At least 46 migrants drowned off the coast of Tunisia after their boat capsized. Meanwhile, the Spanish maritime rescue service rescued 240 migrants, but one was killed trying to cross the Mediterranean to Spain.
In other news, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that a baker cannot be forced to bake a wedding cake for a homosexual wedding.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Charles Low, Dean, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, RR, 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.
Italy: Milan Bourse Soars on New Govt, Spread Falls Sharply
Markets positive with Conte’s M5S-League executive arriving
(ANSA) — Milan, June 1 — The Milan stock exchange’s FTSE Mib index rose 1.49% to 22,109 points on Friday with bank stocks leading the way as Giuseppe Conte was sworn in as premier of a 5-Star Movement/League government.
The spread between Italy’s 10-year BTP bond and the German Bund plunged to 218 basis points, with a yield of 2.56%, in early trading on Friday as the end of the political deadlock that following the March 4 general election within reach. It eventually closed on 226 points with a yield of 2.64%.
The spread, an important measure of investor confidence and of Italy’s borrowing costs, closed at 241 points on Thursday. The spread between the two-year BTP and its German equivalent also fell sharply, dropping to 117 points with a yield of 0.51%.
The spread on the two-year bond hit 343 points, the highest level since 2012, at the peak of the institutional crisis three days ago.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan Protests Snowball Over IMF-Backed Austerity
AMMAN (AFP) — Angry protests rocked cities across Jordan overnight against IMF-backed austerity measures including a new income tax draft law and price hikes, hours after the government and unions failed to reach an agreement to end the standoff.
Around 3,000 people faced down a heavy security presence to gather near the prime minister’s office in central Amman until the early hours of Saturday morning, waving Jordanian flags and signs reading “we will not kneel”.
Protests have gripped the country since Wednesday, when hundreds flooded the streets of Amman and demonstrated in other cities to demand the fall of the government…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Private Equity Kills Toys R US, Workers Get No Severance
Toys R Us will shutter all stores by the end of this month.
I wrote about the role private equity played in killing this venerable 70— year old New Jersey firm when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last September in Toys R Us: Another Private Equity Casualty. So I won’t repeat that sad and sorry tale here (but I will refer interested readers to this earlier post by Yves on the general trend, Private Equity Firms Sued Over Retailer Bankruptcies — and the earlier links included therein).
The purpose of this post is to discuss the consequences of this liquidation for the company’s workers. As Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat whose Congressional district included the company’s headquarters for 16 years until a 2012 redistricting landed it to another district, wrote in USA Today, Amazon didn’t kill Toys R Us, greedy Wall Street profiteers did it:
The so-called Retail Apocalypse can be attributed to Amazon and Walmart, but this is only part of the story. Another part belongs to private equity, whose methods of leveraging immense debt are wreaking havoc on the retail landscape. Toys R Us is the most recent victim.
In 2005, three Wall Street firms paid more than $6 billion for the company, but only $1.2 billion came from their own pockets; the rest was borrowed.
When Toys R Us was purchased, its new owners tethered that $5 billion of debt plus annual interest payments of $400 million to its neck. Finance executives justify leveraged buyouts by claiming that they allow ailing companies to become leaner and more financially nimble in a way that protects the business and its workers. But how could Toys R Us innovate or change course while weighed down by that anchor?
In practice, these deals favor the equity tycoons who help themselves to enormous bonuses. Simultaneously, their new possessions are left holding debt they cannot pay. An otter cracks open a clam before discarding the shell, and so do these firms: Toys R Us owners reportedly walked away with more than $200 million.
The shell is the American worker. Once private equity squeezes out whatever dividends it can, too often the businesses close. The shuttering of Toys R Us’ more than 800 stores will mean the loss of at least 30,000 jobs, including 1,600 in New Jersey.
Worse yet, Toys R Us notified its workers that their severance plans were being nullified.
[Comment: Wonder if at the top of the private equity “investor” pyramid one would find it is comprised of globalist banksters.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bill Maher Says His Trump-Orangutan Jokes Are Not the Same as Roseanne’s ‘Ape’ Tweets
HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher defended himself Friday night after critics spent part of the week equating his past jokes — likening President Donald Trump to an orangutan — to Roseanne Barr’s Twitter post about a former adviser to President Barack Obama.
Many of the critics called for HBO to fire Maher, just as ABC fired Barr despite this year’s success of her rebooted “Roseanne” comedy series.
During his opening monologue, Maher said four “key facts” made his ape jokes different than Barr’s tweet, in which Barr had referred to Valerie Jarrett, a black woman and former Obama top aide, using an allusion to the “Planet of the Apes” movies.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bloody Fighting in Portland After Antifa Attacks Patriot Prayer Rally
Violence broke out yesterday in downtown Portland, Oregon as sociopathic Antifa members stormed a Patriot Prayer Rally. Weapons, fireworks, and bottles, were all used by Antifa to cause harm to police and those participating in the gathering for prayer.
Patriot Prayer, which labels itself as a peaceful First Amendment advocacy group, organized the rally in Portland. “Tiny’s Freedom March,” was supposed to be a going-away event for Tusitala John Toese, who’s close with group leader Joey Gibson and was scheduled for 5 p.m.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Catholic League: Muslim-Run Nations ‘Crush’ Religious Liberty
In most Muslim-majority nations, “religious liberty is either crushed altogether or it barely exists,” wrote Catholic League president Bill Donohue Monday.
Commenting on the findings of the U.S. State Department’s “International Religious Freedom Report,” which was released on May 29, Donahue said that when rulers of a world religion like Islam oppress people of faith “in the name of God or their spiritual leader” it is “disturbing.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dan Bongino drops a huge new piece of information on when the spying started on the Trump campaign. The FBI is hiding paragraph one…
The FBI refuses to tell what paragraph one is…WHY?
Bongino says we’re focusing on “the pull”…The real question is how was the email information about the Russian dirt fed to the campaign? It was fed to the campaign by a professor who has now disappeared:
Painting a full picture of Mifsud is difficult because after the 58-year-old professor was first identified by name in a Washington Post article in the weeks following Papadopoulos’ confession, he gave a few interviews to the international press, and then disappeared.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
In an effort to help Democrats win elections in Virginia, a state whose voters are evenly divided, close friend and confidant of the Clinton crime family, former VA Governor Terry McAuliffe gave 200K felons the right to vote.
The Daily Caller — “I am writing to inform you that in the near future, I will kill the President of the United States of America,” Larson wrote in a Sept. 2008 email to the Secret Service. He then “laid out the reasons why he intended to kill the president and how he intended to carry out the assassination,” the Denver Post reported at the time of his conviction. The threat came at the end of former President George W. Bush’s second term.
An archived copy of Nathan Larson’s campaign manifesto shows he also blames Israel for terror attacks by radical Muslims:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Authored by Michael Snyder via The American Dream blog,
Many were hoping that once Barack Obama was out of office we would see less of this Big Brother surveillance nonsense, but instead it seems to be getting even worse.
In fact, the Department of Homeland Security has just announced that it intends to compile a comprehensive list of hundreds of thousands of “journalists, editors, correspondents, social media influencers, bloggers etc.”, and collect any “information that could be relevant” about them.
So if you have a website, an important blog or you are just very active on social media, the Department of Homeland Security is going to put you on a list and will start collecting information about you. The DHS has already announced that it will hire a contractor to aid in monitoring media coverage, and they will definitely need plenty of help because it is going to be a very big job…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Distractions Will Intensify as the Crimes Are Exposed
The entire Russian collusion investigation has cost tax payers 17 millions dollars. Comey is now throwing McCabe under the bus and it looks like criminal charges are headed his way. FBI releases document that Hillary was shopping around the Benghazi story. Google cancels its AI contract with the US government, employees signed a petition against it. Trump accepts letter from NK, the summit is back on. US vetoes the draft resolution in the UN to investigate what is going on in Palestine. Syria wants the US to hand over al-Tanf, Syria is getting ready to push a major offensive.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Potential FBI whistle-blowers are chomping at the bit to go after disgraced former leaders Andrew McCabe and James Comey…
But there’s one very big problem.
The unsolved case of Democratic National Committee data analyst Seth Rich’s death shares some eerie similarities with many mysterious deaths of individuals linked to former President Bill Clinton and twice failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Just as in the Rich case, several of the people who died mysterious deaths were shot spontaneously and in public places, sometimes from behind, sometimes by unknown assailants and often just before they were set to release incriminating evidence concerning the Clintons’ activities. In most cases, there were no signs of theft at the crime scenes. And while some of the deaths were ruled suicides, other cases remain a mystery.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Grenell Credits Trump, Pence, Bolton for Making Him Most Prominent Gay Ambassador in U.S. History
BERLIN, Germany: Ambassador Richard Grenell expressed nothing but praise for President Trump, Mike Pence, and John Bolton, during an interview with Breitbart London, describing what it is like to be the most prominent openly gay diplomat in the history of the United States.
The Ambassador told Breitbart London about his experiences of being openly gay, both as a member of the Republican Party and in his new role which he began in early May.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hawaii Volcano Update: Scientists Baffled Over Mysterious Cracks in Kilauea Crater
Four weeks into its eruption, Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano continues to spew molten lava across The Big Island’s East side — cutting off access to more neighborhoods and destroying 87 homes, ten of which happened in the last two days.
Scientists are also baffled after aerial drone footage showed concerning changes within Kilauea’s main summit crater — including unexplained cracks at the bottom which are spewing hot steam. Concerns have been raised that an “expanding collapsed crater” and debris blocking the vent could trigger a massive new explosion.
What happens next is unknown:
“It’s possible that new explosions will blast through the rubble at the bottom of the vent, and these may or may not be larger than previous explosions,” said USGS geophysicist Kyle Anderson. “It’s also possible that the vent could become permanently blocked, ending the explosions entirely.”
The steady collapse of the crater’s internal walls due to draining magma has also enlarged the mouth of the vent considerably — which has grown from 12 acres to 120 acres. The summit itself has also sunken at least five feet in elevation while magma levels continue to drop.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
If You’re an Illinois Taxpayer With High Blood Pressure, Don’t Read This
Authored by Adam Andrzejewski via Forbes.com,
We mapped the exclusive club of 30,000 Illinois educators with either salaries or pension payouts greater than $100,000 costing taxpayers $3.7 billion annually.
Illinois teachers are starting their three-month summer break. But when it comes to teacher salaries, there’s no break for taxpayers. Last week, the Illinois legislature passed a new mandate requiring base pay of $40,000 for Illinois educators. (Cue the teacher’s union cheering.)
Yet, lawmakers refuse to cap the payouts for the most highly compensated public employees who burden the system with unsustainable salary and pension costs. The payouts are so large, by our calculation, the equivalent of $1 out of every $3 in individual income tax is paid out to retired teachers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kevin McCarthy Roasts Google for Search Linking California GOP to “Naziism” [Video]
Republican Kevin McCarthy isn’t buying it! He doesn’t believe Google’s excuse for why “Naziism” showed up on a search to describe the California Republican Party’s ideology. He gives examples of bias including Donald Trump Jr.’s problem with a warning given if someone tries to go to his Instagram account. Amazon also kicked out the Alliance for Freedom.
Censorship and bias against conservatives is alive and well on social media, Google and Amazon!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Democrats and mainstream media outlets were quick to defend MS-13 against Trump, and his definition of them as, “animals”. If you’re wondering if the media has an effect on our youth, check out how these millennials responded to this insane question:
The Daily Caller’s Stephanie Hamill and Julia Nista recently hit the streets of Washington D.C. to ask millennials if they would rather date a Trump supporter or an MS-13 gang member.
Shockingly, the majority of respondents said they would rather date an MS-13 gang member, while some said they had never heard of MS-13 before.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Watch Obama’s racist pastor Jeremiah Wright speaking at the “Justice or Else” Rally during the Black Lives Matter furor when he spewed anti-white, anti-Jewish and anti-capitalism rhetoric. Note that one of the leaders of the Me-too movement is behind him…Linda Sarsour. She evolved to become one of a few key people pushing what you hear from Rev. Wright below.
He said things that explain so much about Obama’s foreign policy and his treatment of the state of Israel. Wright opened his speech with a Muslim greeting and then said, ‘Jesus was a Palestinian’. Wright is known for his hate for Jews and hate for America, but mostly this was hate for white people. Lois Farrakhan was the leader of the rally that took place at the Capitol celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the Million Man March on Washington. The rally was really nothing more than a day of Muslim hate speech littered with a desire to have a revolution and have “our time” for the black population. Farrakhan is a hateful man who really should be considered a domestic terrorist.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Portland Sees Bloody Fighting as Antifa Activists Storm Patriot Prayer Rally
Violence broke out in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Sunday as Antifa activists stormed a Patriot Prayer rally — about a year after similar dueling rallies triggered bloody fights and arrests.
Some protesters on Sunday hurled bottles and fireworks at police officers while others were caught with knives and other weapons, Portland Police tweeted. Officials encouraged people to get out of the immediate area “for their safety.”
Many of the Antifa activists wore black and covered their faces. Some protesters said they were demonstrating against police brutality; one sign bluntly read “F — — the police.”
Patriot Prayer, which bills itself as a peaceful First Amendment advocacy group, organized a rally — “Tiny’s Freedom March,” a going-away event for Tusitala John Toese, who’s close with group leader Joey Gibson — for 5 p.m.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spygate: Majority Believe Feds Broke Law to Stop Trump From Winning Presidency
A majority of 51 percent of voters now believe “senior law enforcement officials are likely to have broken the law in an effort to prevent Trump from winning the presidency,” according to a poll from Rasmussen Reports.
Only 42 percent of voters believe it is “unlikely that these officials illegally attempted to stop a Trump presidency.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Cognitive Dissonance Surrounding Donald Trump
The cult of celebrity has never been more prominent in politics than it has the past decade. Starting with Barack Obama, something changed in the American view of presidential leadership. With Obama, there was an element of naive adoration that leftists largely embraced. Obama was more than a president — he was an idol.
Unfortunately, I am also seeing some of the same behavior in elements of the conservative population when it comes to Donald Trump. There are many reasons for this.
First, Trump is one of the few presidents that was already a celebrity before running for office. His notoriety went far beyond that of someone like Ronald Reagan, who did rank as a kind of known cultural element, but certainly not an icon or idol before becoming president.
Second, Trump rode the wave of a backlash movement against the far left, which is now by every definition fully invested in cultural Marxism if not economic Marxism. For many people, Trump represents the moment America was “saved” from imminent destruction by an insane ideology. In fact, I would say Trump’s popularity was directly proportional to the moderate public’s disgust with social justice fanatics; people who believe that sabotaging a culture from the inside, breaking it down through deliberate crisis and then replacing its core principles with their own, is an acceptable strategy.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Deceptive Promotion of Another Constitutional Convention
Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world. Daniel Webster
At first thought, one might consider that the movement to have a constitutional convention to rewrite or alter our 1787 Constitution would be a good thing since much of the promotion of such a venture comes from conservative forces. But don’t believe it! With just a bit of research we find that the left also wants a con-con and they have much more to gain if we consider their goals for America are rooted in socialism. We can easily conclude that what they truly desire, with respect to a proposed altering of the present Constitution, is the elimination of everything after “We the people.”
Ostensibly this movement for change is being fueled by the belief that a BBA will stop the unconstitutional and out of control spending, when in actuality it will do just the opposite. Just the latest Omnibus bill would give impetus to the belief in a balanced budget amendment (BBA). Those who have failed to read the BBA bills or do any research would be shocked at what these bills entail. What sounds good does not always bode well for the American people. Remember the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act?” It is anything but affordable and it doesn’t protect patients, so beware of these euphemistic names placed on these dangerous bills.
[Comment: Globalist think tanks have ALREADY written a socialist “New Constitution” and are waiting to ram it through should Americans be foolish enough to believe the propaganda that a Con-Con would be good for America.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Many were hoping that once Barack Obama was out of office we would see less of this Big Brother surveillance nonsense, but instead it seems to be getting even worse. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security has just announced that it intends to compile a comprehensive list of hundreds of thousands of “journalists, editors, correspondents, social media influencers, bloggers etc.”, and collect any “information that could be relevant” about them. So if you have a website, an important blog or you are just very active on social media, the Department of Homeland Security is going to put you on a list and will start collecting information about you. The DHS has already announced that it will hire a contractor to aid in monitoring media coverage, and they will definitely need plenty of help because it is going to be a very big job…
As part of its “media monitoring,” the DHS seeks to track more than 290,000 global news sources as well as social media in over 100 languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Russian, for instant translation into English. The successful contracting company will have “24/7 access to a password protected, media influencer database, including journalists, editors, correspondents, social media influencers, bloggers etc.” in order to “identify any and all media coverage related to the Department of Homeland Security or a particular event.”
“Any and all media coverage,” as you might imagine, is quite broad and includes “online, print, broadcast, cable, radio, trade and industry publications, local sources, national/international outlets, traditional news sources, and social media.”
If this sounds extremely creepy to you, that is because it is extremely creepy.
I run several prominent websites including The Most Important News and The Economic Collapse Blog, and so without a doubt I will be on this list. And if I was just a name on a list in some database somewhere, that would be bad enough, but instead it sounds like the DHS will be collecting any “information that could be relevant” about all of us…
[Comment: Communists building their kill list — will be implemented as soon as the 2nd amendment is removed and guns confiscated.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Traveling Transition Road: 123 Revelations From May, 2018
For the previously unstated purpose of oppugning internet censorship, and the fact online search engines are becoming less of a trustworthy source when attempting to research past articles, a catalog of links was started by this blogger on Mayday 2018; and based upon the belief that transitions are roads to revelations.
Keep in mind the following May denouements occurred in addition to those previously delineated during the first “Seven Days in May”.
The ensuing disclosures occurred between the dates of May 8-31, 2018 and have been organized into categories for the reader’s convenience:
[Comment: Great bullet summary of news for conservatives.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Valley Man Who Plotted Pier 39 Attack Pleads to Supporting ISIS; To Serve 15 Years
The Modesto man accused by federal prosecutors of attempting to provide support and resources to the terrorist group ISIS is expected to serve 15 years in federal prison, after making a plea agreement with prosecutors Monday.
Wearing a red jailhouse jumpsuit tagged with “prisoner” on the back, Everitt Aaron Jameson was calm in U.S District Court in Fresno, pleading guilty before Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill. He was arrested in December for plotting to launch a Christmas Day attack on Pier 39 in San Francisco.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Why Deep State Players in Former Obama Admin Are Suddenly Showing Up on MSNBC and CNN
The DEEP STATE is positioning its players so it can best battle the Inspector General’s Report due out any day. Predictions are this it should be out late next week. It’s about 400 pages long!
Weaponization of the press has been happening long before this but now it’s in a full court press to defend the key players in the intel agencies. The Obama administration weaponized the intel agencies to spy on the Trump campaign and now they’re moving to control the narrative. American Pravda!
Think about it! John Brennan is at NBC and James Clapper is at CNN! How insane is that! Both Clapper and Brennan have been attacking President Trump from day one of his administration with a disinformation campaign. It’s been over the top criticism that’s literally an attempt at a Deep State soft coup. No kidding!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Beware — Today’s NDP is More Radical Than Ever
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath puts a smiling face on an evil ideology.
On the surface, for those ignorant of history and global affairs, socialism may seem compassionate. It’s sold as a remedy for inequality and a vehicle to help the least well-off among us.
But socialism’s methods — giving more power and control to the government, at the expense of individuals — has a track record that has led to plunder, poverty, starvation and death, wherever it’s been tried…
The hallmarks of an NDP government — whether it’s today in Western Canada, or in the past in Ontario under Premier Bob Rae — are higher taxes, out-of-control spending, sky-rocketing debt, and a business environment that chases away private investment.
I grew up in B.C. in the 1990s during an NDP reign — it was known as the “lost decade” in the province, as countless young families fled to Alberta in search of good blue-collar jobs. Families were torn apart just so NDP politicians could pursue their socialist utopia.
And today’s New Democrats are even more radical.
They’ve taken the Marxist doctrine of economic oppression — the core philosophy of socialism — and applied it to our social structure. They divide us into groups based on the identities we’re born with, including our gender and ethnicity, and create a hierarchy of victimhood.
If you’re a member of a so-called oppressed group, you get extra rights and privileges — at the expense of the so-called oppressors. Most Canadians reject this divisive identity politics, but the far-left embraces it.
If there was any doubt about the NDP’s extremism, look no further than Horwath’s motley crew of candidates.
[Comment: funded by Soros.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Farmers Asked to Avoid Smelly Fertilizer During G7… Will Only Add to Globalist Stench
Farmers in Charlevoix, Quebec were urged not to spread smelly fertilizer before the G7 summit in order to protect high-ranking guests from an unpleasant odor, according to media reports. The move may jeopardize crops, however.
The call for farmers to avoid spreading manure on their fields came ahead of the G7 summit, which will take place in Charlevoix on June 8-9.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Four People Shot Outside Pickering Ribfest: ‘it Could Have Been Anyone of US Ribbers’
PICKERING — Rib cook Tanner Tracey dreaded coming to work Sunday morning after four people were shot just outside the Pickering Ribfest the night before.
The Belleville native who works at The Hogfather — one of nine rib places at the festival — said the three-day event was just coming to a close around 11 p.m. when the shots rang out.
“We had just closed the park when we heard three gunshots,” said Tracey on the festival’s final day Sunday.
“And then we heard about seven or eight people yell, ‘gunshots!” and then it escalated a lot quicker. Pretty much the entire park cleared out, like running very fast. Probably like 200 people, 300 people, ‘cause the park wasn’t full at that time of the night. They were trying to get everybody out. So it was very scary.”
Durham Police reported four males — aged 16 and 17 from Ajax, age 20 from Pickering, and aged 30 from North York — were treated and released with non-life threatening injuries.
Police described one suspect as a black male wearing dark clothing, adding they’re not sure how many shots were fired but don’t believe it was a random act.
“I didn’t really want to be here today,” said Tracey. “Not because of the people of Pickering but more along the lines of just knowing that someone had a gun here last night and shot at young children. It could have been any one of us ribbers. And we’re all a really tight community and family.”…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
4,000-Year-Old Jar Contains Italy’s Oldest Olive Oil
An egg-shaped ceramic jar covered with ceramic “rope” once held a prize delicacy: the oldest olive oil on record in Italy, a new study finds.
Researchers made the discovery after analyzing residue of the so-called liquid gold on the beautiful jar and two other vessels uncovered at Castelluccio, an archaeological site in Sicily.
Meanwhile, the oldest Italian wine on record dates to nearly 6,000 years ago and was also found at an archaeological site in Sicily, Live Science preciously reported.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A Few Little Things That You Can Do to Fight Back Against the System
As European population replacement is already well under way, the time to start discussing solutions has already passed. Topics such as repatriation and fertility rates cross our lips or fingers on a daily basis. We all have our own ideas about what must be done to reverse our forecasted demographics.
Until we reach the day that progress begins to take place, I thought I’d put together a selection of minor activities that we can do as individuals to fight back against the system. By no means are these ideas going to save the world. I’m not going to discuss increasing White birth rates or deporting foreign citizens, but we must recognise that apathy is holding us back and if we altered a few small habits (and encouraged others to do the same), then perhaps some sort of small-scale change can begin to take place…
Inside the delusional world of The Guardian and The Independent, they somehow believe that the BBC is biased towards the right. Perhaps they read one article that they disagreed with one time, because of course, us on the right know that the mainstream media in Britain is heavily biased towards the left. This isn’t the same as having the odd disagreement with their content every now and again, this is us acknowledging that they constantly churn out anti-White, pro-open borders, pro-EU/anti-Brexit content. Take a look at their panel shows for confirmation of this. On Question Time, for example, it’s not rare for them to invite four Remain voters and one Leave voter to join them. And on so-called “comedy” panel shows, they always come complete with a self-hating, middle-class audience of champagne socialists who clap along like seals at anything that’s anti-White, anti-straight and anti-male.
Don’t believe me? Take a look at this video from Theberton:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
AfD Leader Sparks Outrage With Hitler ‘Speck of S***’ Comment
One of the leaders of Germany’s far-right AfD party sparked outrage Saturday by downplaying the crimes of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, saying they were “just a speck of bird s*** in over 1,000 years of successful German history.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Angela Merkel on Italy: Solidarity in Eurozone Should Not Lead to Debt Union
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has congratulated Italy’s new prime minister, Giuseppe Conte. However, she later appeared to dismiss the Italian government’s calls to the European Central Bank for debt forgiveness.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks with Italy’s new populist prime minister, Giuseppe Conte on Saturday and invited him to Berlin for further discussions on the two countries’ future relationship.
The chancellor’s office said in a statement that Merkel had congratulated Conte on becoming prime minister. The two leaders emphasized the importance of “continued close bilateral cooperation” during the phone conversation, the statement added.
Conte, a little-known Italian law professor, has mostly kept quiet since being sworn in on Friday, but he announced on Facebook that, along with Merkel, he had also held talks with France’s Emmanuel Macron on Saturday. He said he would meet the two leaders at next week’s G7 summit in Canada, where he will be a “spokesman for the interests of Italian citizens.”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Immigrant Party Wins Slovenian Elections as Populist Wave Washes Over Europe
In early March, Deutsche Bank wrote that “the Liberal world order is in jeopardy” as a result of a global populist uprising to a level not seen since World War II, with DB strategist Jim Reid adding that “it’s hard to get away from the fact that populism is currently going through an explosion in support at present.” The unprecedented ascent of populism across Europe, where the ECB is rapidly losing the war against anti-globalist forces which made its creation possible, is shown in the chart below: it reveals that whereas in 2000 only 8.5% of the European vote went to populist states, in 2017 that number rose to 24.1%…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British School Forces Boys to Wear “Gender-Neutral” Skirts Instead of Shorts
A private secondary school in Oxfordshire, England is banning its male students from wearing shorts during the summer months, and is instead requesting that they wear a more “gender neutral” ensemble that includes that staple of men’s athletic wear: The skirt.
According to the Daily Mail, Chiltern Edge Secondary School’s rule change comes after an unfavorable ruling by a government agency tasked with overseeing educational standards.
School leaders said the skirts were a “more formal” alternative to shorts, regardless of how uncomfortable they might make male students at the school.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Der Spiegel Columnist’s View on Italy ‘One of Many’
Interview with ANSA after Italian president lashes out
(ANSA) — Berlin, June 1 — The German daily Der Spiegel has told ANSA in an interview that views expressed by one of its columnists on the situation in Italy was only one of several different, contrasting positions within the publication.
President Sergio Mattarella called comments made in the column by Jan Fleischhauer — on “Rome scroungers” — “unacceptable and grotesque”. Online editor Barbara Hans said Fleischhauer’s column was provocatory and conservative as a rule and that his opinion was one of several, but that it should not be understood to represent the position of the publication as a whole. She added that the newspaper cultivates pluralism and that this is seen in other parts of the newspaper dealing with debt reduction in Italy. When asked whether there are articles that are seen as problematic for the paper due to the general judgments they contain — for example, on Italy — Hans said that Der Spiegel has no influence on the very emotional reaction to some of the articles published. She added that it would be against their editorial line not to publish something simply because someone (a government, company or politician) felt under attack by it, stressing the value of press freedom.
The Der Spiegel online editor said that though it would be better if European populations understood each other better, this was the duty of politicians and not the media.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Di Maio: The Fresh Face Taking Italian Populism to Power
ROME (AFP) — Italy’s new minister of economic development and joint deputy prime minister, Five Star Movement chief Luigi Di Maio has been derided as an empty-headed puppet by his opponents, but the telegenic young gun has lifted his party from anti-establishment insurgency to joint leaders of the country’s new populist government.
With boyish good looks and an easy-going manner, the 31-year-old led his party to astonishing electoral success on March 4, propelling the grass-roots mavericks to the forefront of Italy’s political scene for the very first time.
With almost 33 percent of the vote, Five Star became the largest single party in parliament, although it fell short of a majority…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU ‘Full Confidence’ In New Italian Govt’s EU Intentions
Juncker’s spokesperson says EC head ready to work with executive
(ANSA) — Brussels, June 1 — The European Commission has “full confidence in the capacity and will of the new government (in Italy) to work constructively with its partners and the EU institutions to maintain Italy’s central role in Europe,” Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s spokesperson said on Friday.
The spokesperson added that Juncker was committed to “working with the Italian government to address the many challenges, such as immigration”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Will ‘Dig Its Own Grave’ If it Tries to Teach Italy a Lesson, Warns Brexit Critic Soros
REMAIN-BACKING billionaire George Soros warned the European Union it will “dig its own grave” if it tries to punish Italy’s new eurosceptic government, after key members issued a series of warnings over the country’s continued membership of the euro zone.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Facebook Allegedly Evaded Taxes for 300 Mn Euros in Italy
Company could be ordered to pay 100-mn fine
(ANSA) — Milan, June 1 — Tax police in Milan allege that Facebook evaded taxes worth 300 million euros between 2010 and 2016 by selling ad space in other countries, routing Italian sales through countries with lower tax rates, sources said Friday.
As a consequence, Facebook Ireland and Facebook Inc. could be ordered to pay up to 100 million euros although the company could negotiate with Italy’s revenue agency Agenzia delle Entrate to settle on a smaller sum.
Last December Facebook announced it would overhaul its tax structure to pay taxes in the country where profits are made.
The move will affect how Facebook pays taxes in 30 countries, including Italy.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Failed EU — Means an Expanded Dictatorship
As the people of the world awaken to the pernicious nature and destructive wreckage of European civilization, the EU technocrats and oligarchs respond with even greater measures of control, repression and intimidation. Yet the prospects that they will be able to maintain their autocratic rule lessons with each populist rebellion against the beasts from Brussels. Induced panic is a tool used to scare the peasants into additional submission. The most obvious method will be a major economic and monetary implosion designed to create fear so that their revered and lauded interdependency necessitates another surrender of national sovereignty.
Events in the last decade foreshadowed the frustration and indignation of Europeans against the artificial federation of independent nations, under the domination of non elected autocrats. Only a denier of facts and history would dispute that the European Union has been a failed experiment in communal coupling. A common currency is as much a pipedream as achieving equivalent and comparable national economies.
Soon the EU will be at parity with the US Dollar, but do not worry; the Merkel Reich will bail out the banks with all those assets generated from the Marshall Plan. Keep the money all in the family. So With Populist Anger Rising, Italy May Be Next Domino to Fall, the European Banksters have another opportunity to scare the public and put them back in line…
The downfall of the Roman Empire was finalized when the barbarians no longer feared the legions of gladius armed soldiers. Today, the Goths are actually the Philistines from the European Union. The “so called” refugees that Merkel welcomed are intended to destroy the last semblance of democratic legitimacy.
The only objective reason to explain such a suicidal policy is that the Caucasian race has proven to be too much of an obstacle for the globalists, who want and need conflict to eliminate native factions from the European continent…
The Bilderberg Authoritarianism Destroys Humanity as their normal course of operations. The European Union wants to rule over their inborn population completely. The swarms of foreigners are packs of gate-crasher intended to be the accelerant to burn down the civilization.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France’s Fake News Law Leaves Media Experts Uneasy
Paris (AFP) — France is the latest country attempting to fight the scourge of fake news with legislation — but opponents say the law won’t work and could even be used to silence critics.
The draft law, designed to stop what the government calls “manipulation of information” in the run-up to elections, will be debated in parliament Thursday with a view to it being put into action during next year’s European parliamentary polls.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Mayor Fined 2,500 Euros for Joke About Arabs Told in a Rally
The Correctional Court in Tours fined Michel Champigny, the mayor of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, for a joke he made in front of hundreds of people at a political rally on April 4th of last year, Europe 1 reports.
During the rally, which was held in support of right-wing presidential candidate François Fillon, Champigny told a joke about Arabs which equated them to thieves. A few days later, he was sued by the Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among People (MRAP).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Grenell: NATO Allies Unprepared, Not Meeting Commitments
BERLIN, Germany: Tackling NATO nations failing to meet their alliance obligations is a key priority for President Trump, his right-hand-man in Europe has revealed in an exclusive interview.
Speaking to Breitbart London during a sit-down at the U.S. residence in Berlin, recently confirmed Ambassador Richard Grenell delivered a frankly worded condemnation of Germany’s contribution to the NATO alliance to which the United States is a significant contributor.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Half Pupils Flunk School in Crime-Hit Swedish Districts
More than half the pupils in many of Sweden’s ‘specially vulnerable’ regions leave elementary school with no qualification, a study carried out by Sweden’s TT newswire has found.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Icelanders’ Genetic Heritage Analyzed
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND—According to a report in Science Magazine, a new genetic study of Icelanders led by S. Sunna Ebenesersdóttir of the University of Iceland suggests the population rapidly shifted from a roughly even mix of Norse and Gaelic ancestry some 1,000 years ago, to mostly Norse ancestry today. The team analyzed genomes obtained from 27 ancient skeletons found across Iceland, and found that these early settlers of the island had genes associated with populations from Norway, Sweden, Ireland, and Scotland.
The researchers then used a computer simulation to model the change to predominantly Norse ancestry, and found evidence for genetic drift, or random fluctuations in gene frequencies, which has been seen in isolated populations of animals. The study notes that recent immigration from Scandinavia, and especially from Denmark, also had an impact on Iceland’s gene pool.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Is the European Union on the Edge of a Civil War? — Analysis
By Alessandro Gagaridis
That said, history is full of examples of civil wars; from those which paved the way to the end of the Roman Republic centuries ago to the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Yemen. But one is particularly significant due to its similarities with the situation the EU is facing today: the American Civil War.
But it is exactly a mass Brexit-like scenario what can raise concerns over the long-term tenure of the EU. A full-scale civil war seems unlikely (unless the international situation becomes so severely deteriorated in economic and political terms to bring states to the point of using war to secure their interests); but if the existing divergences continue to mount and no solution is reached, then it is still possible that some member states (most likely the V4 ones) will decide to leave the EU.
The consequences are difficult to predict, ranging from an easier path to greater integration between the remaining like-minded members to a dissolution of the organization. In any case, the EU would be weakened at the international level, possibly leaving room for alternative blocs. All this would bring uncertainty in political and economic terms, and (especially if the EU were dismantled), it would certainly be a turning point in European History, as the Civil War was in America’s.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Populist: We’re Going in the ‘Right Direction’ If Soros is Worried
Globalist financier George Soros’s “concern” over the new Italian government is a good sign because it means the populists are on the right track, League party deputy Claudio Borghi Aquilini has said.
“Soros worried by the Italian government? So it means we are going in the right direction,” Mr. Borghi said in response to allegations made by the open borders advocate at the Trento Festival of Economics in Italy on Sunday that there is a “close relationship” between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Italy’s new Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, League leader Matteo Salvini.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘From Today, The State is us’: Five Star Leader
Italy’s new prime minister Giuseppe Conte mostly kept quiet on his full first day in office Saturday, while his two powerful deputies took centre stage in setting the tone of the populist government’s policy.
Conte, a political novice, was finally sworn in on Friday as the head of a government of ministers from the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the far-right League, ending months of uncertainty since elections in March.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Salvini: Rebranded Nationalist Power-Sharing With Former Enemy
ROME (AFP) — With his “Italians first” rallying cry and his tub-thumping against Islam and a “migrant invasion” Matteo Salvini has rebranded himself and his party to become both interior minister and joint deputy prime minister and bring Italy touching distance from its first eurosceptic government.
As leader of the far-right League, the 45-year-old has got his hands on national security and public order, allowing him to focus on some of the chief aspects of his rabble-rousing election campaigning — stopping illegal immigration and deporting those who have already arrived.
Salvini was sworn in as interior minister after striking a last-gasp deal to resurrect a coalition with Five Star Movement head Luigi Di Maio, an agreement that has now brough Italy a populist government after nearly three months of post-electoral deadlock…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Zero FCA Debt by End of June — Tie-Wearing Marchionne
CEO speaks at carmaker’s Capital Markets Day
(ANSA) — Balocco, June 1 — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) CEO Sergio Marchionne told a Capital Markets Day event in Balocco on Friday that the Italian American company will “bring down net industrial debt to zero by the end of June”. Marchionne, who is famed for spurning the usual suit-and-tie dress code of executives, kept a promise to attend the event in a tie, although he wore it under a sweater.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Could Get 2.7 Bn Less in New CAP Budget
6.9% cut
(ANSA) — Brussels, June 1 — Italy could lose some 2.7 billion euros due to the cuts in the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget for 2021-2027, EU sources said Friday. That would represent a cut for Italy of about 6.9%, they said.
In 2021-2027 Italy should receive 24.9 billion euros in direct payments, 8.9 billion for rural development and 2.5 billion for market measures, making a total of 36.3 billion.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Deputy PM Vows to ‘Change EU Rules’ With Hungary’s Viktor Orban
ITALY’S new eurosceptic deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini revealed his intention to work together with anti-immigration leader Viktor Orban to “change EU rules” as fears among europhile Italy may close his borders grow.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
JPMorgan’s Stunning Conclusion: An Italian Exit May be Rome’s Best Option
With Europe having a near heart attack last week, as Italian bond yields exploded amid deja vu fears that the new populist government would press the “Quitaly” button and threaten the EU with exiting the Eurozone in order to get budget spending concessions from Brussels, the discussion about Europe’s record Target2 imbalances quietly resurfaced after years of dormancy. And with ‚¬426BN, Italy has the highest Target2 deficit with the Eurosystem (Spain is a close second with €377BN) any discussion about an Italian euro exit raises concerns about costs.
After all, as JPMorgan reminds us, it was only a year ago, in January 2017, that in a letter to European Parliament MPs, ECB President Draghi made the stunning admission that a country can leave the Eurozone but only if it settles its bill first, or as Draghi said “if a country were to leave the Eurosystem, its national central bank’s claims on or liabilities to the ECB would need to be settled in full.”
By linking the Eurozone exit cost to Target2 balances, where Germany is on the other end with a receivable balance of nearly €1 trillion, Draghi “reminded” populist politicians in Europe that a euro exit or divorce would be difficult and even more costly relative to the past because of the continued rise in Target2 balances following the ECB’s QE program.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Juncker Deeply Upset Words on Italy ‘Distorted’
Headlines misleading says spokesperson
(ANSA) — Brussels, June 1 — European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is upset that comments he made about Italy were distorted in the media and caused a furore, his spokesperson said in Friday.
With a new League-5-Star Movement (M5S) government set to be sworn in on Friday, on Thursday Juncker said Italy must not blame its problems on the EU and the Commission.
“Italians have to take care of the poor regions of Italy.
That means more work (jobs), less corruption, seriousness,” Juncker said.
“We will help them as we always did. But don’t play this game of loading with responsibility the EU. A country is a country, a nation is a nation. Countries first, Europe second.” A furore exploded, however, after some media outlets, including Britain’s The Guardian, reported that he had said Italians need to work harder and be less corrupt on the basis of these words.
League leader Matteo Salvini, who is set to be interior minister in the new govt, countered by accusing Juncker of racism and saying the EU should not insult Italy.
“Juncker is deeply upset that his words were reported in such a distorted way,” the spokesperson said. “We have seen highly misleading headlines that do not reflect his profound love of Italy.
“Juncker has introduced flexibility, without which Italy would not have been able to spend an extra 19 billion euros, and he made funds available for a cathedral (in Norca) after the earthquake there.
“We prefer to look at deeds rather than words”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Ready to ‘Cooperate’ With New Italian Govt
Spokesman Steffen Seibert outlines German position
(ANSA) — Berlin, June 1 — German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be “open” to cooperating with the new Italian government, Berlin spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Friday. He added that the chancellor was waiting for the new government to be presented before commenting.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Nine out of 10 crimes went unsolved in 2016 and 2017, a drop of 25 percent
In Manchester, less than six percent of crime were solved in Trafford none were
Of more than 50,000 robberies only 5.7 percent were solved and less than 12 percent of violent and sexual crimes were solved
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Populists Campaign in Sicily After Forming Italy Government
Days after taking office, the two pillars of Italy’s first populist government are already campaigning.
Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio, the leaders of the right-wing League and euroskeptic 5-Star Movement, respectively, were in Sicily on Sunday, a week before municipal elections on the island region.
The 5-Star Movement is Parliament’s largest party thanks to support from southern Italy, where voters in the March election liked Di Maio’s promise of a minimum income for the unemployed.
The north-based League stokes fears about migrants, who have arrived in huge numbers to Sicily. Salvini vows to expel them.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Researchers Find Methane Ice Dunes on Pluto
Wind-blown dunes are known on Earth, Mars, Venus, Saturn’s moon Titan, and Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — and, now on Pluto, according to a team of planetary researchers led by a University of Plymouth scientist.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Slovenia Election: Right-Wing Opposition Sds Leads
Slovenia’s election has handed a lead to veteran conservative Janez Jansa and his anti-immigrant SDS party, but not enough to rule alone, according to exit polls. Second-placed is comedian-turned-politician Marjan Sarec.
Slovenian public television on Sunday put Jansa’s Democratic Party (SDS) on 24.4 percent, which would translate into about 25 of 90 seats in parliament in Ljubljana.
The estimate by polling institute Mediana, if confirmed, would add a further anti-immigrant line-up to Europe’s political scene…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Spain’s New PM First to Take Oath of Office Without Bible
Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez will be sworn in as prime minister on Saturday, a day after ousting Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote in parliament sparked by fury over his party’s corruption woes.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Campers Filmed Drowned Boy on Phones
A policeman’s angry Facebook post criticising onlookers who filmed the rescue attempt of a drowned teen on their mobile phones, obstructing police, has gone viral in Sweden.
Johan Spånbo, from police in Örebro, central Sweden, claimed that officers rescuing a 17-year-old who had sunk beneath the waters of Lake Möckeln on Friday evening, had been forced to waste time physically removing people from the pontoon so that rescue services could do their work.
“I want to question the people who took out their mobile phones and started to make a private photo documentation of the boy as he was being pulled out of the water,” Spånbo wrote in a post on Facebook on Saturday.
“That they also had the gall to quibble when I asked them to put away their phones out of respect for the boy is outrageous and completely lacking in normal respect”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The EU Counts Its Crises as Problems Mount
PARIS (AFP) — A populist government in Rome, political instability in Madrid, democratic crises in the east and a transatlantic trade war to the west: the European Union faces threats and challenges on multiple fronts.
On Friday, Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella swore in an anti-establishment and eurosceptic government comprising the Five Star Movement and the far-right League.
Their agenda — increased public spending in the EU’s most indebted nation, coupled with anti-German rhetoric — has led to concerns for the bloc’s future and its single currency, the euro…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The NWO Just Suffered a Massive Defeat in Italy
A political earthquake just hit Europe and the globalists are terrified.
Please share this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WypsVFfrOPg&feature=youtu.be
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Patriot Spring Continues: Anti-Immigration Party Wins Slovenian Election
The right-wing Slovenian Democratic party (SDS) of Janez Jansa, has won Slovenia’s election. With 99.9% of votes counted, the party received 25% of support.
With 12% of the vote, the LMS party of Marjan Šarec, came in second. Other parties, like the Modern Centre party and the Social Democrats received around 9% of the votes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Reason Why the Euro Was Created, In One Chart
With Italy’s new government once again — if coyly for the time being — bringing up the thorny issue of currency redenomination within the Eurozone, and by implication the failure of the euro and its reversion back to its constituent currencies, we thought it would be a good idea to remind readers why the euro exists in the first place. The briefest possible answer: to make sure the Deutsche Mark does not.
As presented in the chart below — which shows the performance for each of the EU12 countries against the German DEM in every decade from the 1950s to the start of the Euro in 1999 — apart from a small revaluation of core countries in the 1990s, every country devalued to Germany in every decade between the 1950s and the start of the Euro. Said otherwise, the Deutsche Mark appreciated in value against all of its European peers for 5 consecutive decades, a condition which if left unchanged, would have led to an economic and trade crisis.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tommy Robinson Protests Continue for Second Week as Thousands Take to the Streets
Thousands of Tommy Robinson supporters and free speech advocates around the world took to the streets for a second week of protests against the imprisonment of the UK journalist and political activist. Robinson was arrested on May 25 outside Leeds Crown Court for reporting on a pedophile grooming trial. After a brief court proceeding in which he did not have access to his lawyer, Robinson was handed a 13-month prison sentence for violating the terms of a suspended sentence on a similar offense.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump’s Right Hand Man in Europe Rick Grenell Wants to ‘Empower’ European Conservatives
BERLIN, Germany: Trumpian U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell has expressed great excitement over the wave of conservatism in Europe, saying he wants to “empower” leaders of the movement.
At a sit-down interview at his official residence in Berlin with Breitbart London, Ambassador Grenell said: “There are a lot of conservatives throughout Europe who have contacted me to say they are feeling there is a resurgence going on.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Remembers London Bridge Attack Victims on First Anniversary
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May joined survivors, victims’ families and emergency workers at a memorial service Sunday to mark a year since a deadly vehicle-and-knife attack brought terror to London Bridge on a warm Saturday night.
Eight people were killed and almost 50 injured when three Islamic State group-inspired extremists ran down pedestrians on the bridge, then stabbed people at packed bars and restaurants in nearby Borough Market, one of London’s main foodie hubs. The three attackers were shot dead by police within minutes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Brexiteers have mocked sensational Civil Service leaks claiming Brexit could lead to an almost immediate collapse in essential supplies of food, fuel, and medicine, dubbed the “Armageddon” scenario.
The “Doomsday Brexit scenario” was reportedly drawn up by senior civil servants for Brexit Secretary David Davis, and leaked to The Sunday Times, with unnamed sources saying the port of Dover would collapse “on day one” of Brexit.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Angry Cyclist Attacks Driver in Broad Daylight in London
London has become what President Trump would call a “shithole” place. Knife attacks have become so common that the Mayor of London has outlawed them (see our previous report below). Does that tell you anything? Well, it should tell you that the savages have invaded and are taking over under Mayor Kahn: LONDON KNIFE ATTACKS SET TO OUTPACE NYC MURDER RATE
Yeah, this is London. Good job, Mayor Kahn:
This is the terrifying moment a cyclist pulled an enormous ‘zombie-killer’ knife on a driver in broad daylight in south London.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Army of Remainers, Backed by George Soros, Will Go Door-to-Door in Bid to Overturn Brexit
An army of ‘Remoaners’ will hit doorsteps across the country this summer as they ramp up their bid to thwart Brexit. Campaigners are planning to visit thousands of homes as they escalate attempts to stop the UK leaving the EU — but critics have dubbed them “shameful”.
They will target key parts of towns and cities up and down the country, including Stoke, Dudley, Carlisle and the Don Valley.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: A Weekend in Khan’s London: Man ‘Shot in Face, ‘ Woman ‘Slashed in Face’, Attempted Knife Murder
London’s deadly crime wave is continuing, with a man “shot in the face” in a double gun attack, a woman “slashed in the face”, and an attempted knife murder in a weekend of horrific violence.
For the second time in recent days, graphic footage of violence on London streets, committed in broad daylight, has circulated online, showing a man covered in blood after allegedly being blasted in the face with a shotgun.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Knife Mayhem: Britain Faces Summer of Bloodshed Unless Police Handed Stronger Powers
BRITAIN faces a summer of bloodshed unless swift action is taken to curb violent street crime, MPs warned last night. An unprecedented year of carnage peaked at the weekend with a series of stabbings and shootings, sparking calls to urgently equip the police with stronger powers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: London Bloodbath: Man Stabbed Outside Police Station as Violence Rages on
The critically injured man, thought to be in his 30s, was found lying outside the police station in Ilford High Road just after 4am today.
Paramedics rushed to the scene and took the stricken victim to hospital.
Police cordoned off the area and are currently investigating the brazen attack.
There have been no arrests so far.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Minute’s Silence for London Bridge Terror Attack Victims
New tributes were laid on the bridge one year to the day since the attack, which killed eight people and injured dozens more.
Sadiq Khan and Theresa May were among the hundreds who gathered for a first anniversary memorial service to honour those killed in the London Bridge attack.
Mr Khan also spoke at the service, reading an extract from Psalm 77, after the Dean Andrew Nunn had opened the event by telling those in attendance that he “hopes it helps our healing”. “Love is stronger than hate, light is stronger than darkness, life is stronger than death — it was true a year ago, it’s as true today,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Man Accused of Plotting Westminster Knife Attack ‘Wanted to Send Message’
An al Qaeda bomb-maker was arrested in Whitehall with a stash of knives yards from the gates of Downing Street, claiming he had a “message” for Britain’s political leaders, a court has heard.
Khalid Mohammed Omar Ali, 28, had returned to Britain from Afghanistan where he had built bombs and detonated more than 300 devices over a five-year period, he told police.
His fingerprints had been found on sticky tape used in the manufacture of bomb parts found in Spin Boldak and Kandahar in Afghanistan in January and July 2012, the Old Bailey was told.
Ali said he owed his loyalty to al Qaeda and the Taliban, that he regarded himself as a “mujahid” and a soldier of Islam, and that he wished to deliver a message to the “leaders and decision-makers” of the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: MI5 Having to Share Intel on Terror Suspects With Police, Teachers, Social Workers
Britain’s Security Service (MI5) will give the identity of terror suspects to police officers, teachers, and social workers in a bid to stop plots and deter extremism, the Home Secretary announced Monday.
The ‘Contest’ strategy would see some intelligence information handed down to local authorities in an effort to support the management of security risks, in changes which Home Secretary Sajid Javid said would “broaden the system to flag up when those people are behaving suspiciously”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Mother and Two Daughters Found Guilty of All-Female ISIS London Terror Attack Plot
A British mother and her two daughters are due to be sentenced for plotting to commit terrorist attacks on the streets of London.
Mina Dich, 44, previously pleaded guilty along with her 22-year-old daughter Rizlaine Boular of preparation of terrorist acts following their arrest last April. Dich’s other daughter, Safaa Boular, 18, has now been found guilty following a trial at London’s Old Bailey court of two counts of preparation of terrorist acts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Rape Gangs: A Story Set in Leafy Oxfordshire
What price has been paid, is being paid, or might be paid at some stage, by all those public officials who tacitly or otherwise allowed these modern-day atrocities to go on, doing nothing to stop them?
Families of some of the abused girls related that they had tried consistently to raise the alarm over what was happening to their daughters, but that every door of the state was closed in their faces.
If Britain is to turn around the disgrace of its culture of ‘grooming gangs’, it should start by changing the risk-reward ratio between those who identify these monstrous crimes and those who have been shown to have covered them up.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A 15-year-old was stabbed to death in the late Enoch Powell’s former constituency of Wolverhampton shortly after gangs of young men were filmed brawling with machetes in broad daylight.
The men, who appear to be from a migration background, were filmed brawling with the huge blades by Facebook user Rozendeep Sidhu.
A clearer, zoomed in version of the shocking video was later shared by Birmingham Live, which reported that armed police rushed to the scene of the clash but found the thugs had already scattered.
So far, no arrests have been made.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spy chiefs warn Britain is facing years under the looming threat of an imminent radical Islamic terror attack, one year on from the Islamic State-inspired London Bridge attacks.
The scale of the threat is to be revealed in a new Government counter-terrorism strategy, to be released on Monday by Sajid Javid, the new Home Secretary, aimed at tackling the growing threat of radical Islamic violence.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The upcoming European parliamentary election will be about a struggle for values and cultures and a lot is at stake, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at a forum in Kötcse on Sunday.
In a private forum — annually organised in Kötcse for the members of Fidesz and the intellectuals close to it — Orban said Hungary’s opportunities were vast but there were also serious threats, the first being migration, the PM’s press chief Bertalan Havasi said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
What the Populists Are Proposing for Italy
ROME (AFP) — Italian anti-establishment and far-right parties finally won their bid for power Thursday after Giuseppe Conte was nominated prime minister by president Sergio Mattarella for the second time in a fortnight.
Here are some of the proposals from the joint government programme that the coalition’s newly announced cabinet will be charged with carrying out:…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands Join Rightwing Protest Against Macedonia Name Change
SKOPJE (AFP) — Thousands of supporters of Macedonia’s rightwing opposition VMRO-DPMNE party took to the streets of the capital Skopje on Saturday to protest against plans to change their country’s name, which has been at the centre of dispute with neighbouring Greece.
Zoran Zaev, prime minister of the former Yugoslav republic, said Wednesday that negotiations with Athens to resolve the 27-year-old dispute were in “the final stages”.
Athens objects to the neighbouring state’s constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia, because Greece has its own northern province called Macedonia, and fears it may imply territorial ambitions…
The contentious issue has stymied Macedonia’s hopes of joining the European Union and NATO, as Greece can veto its membership bids.
The VMRO-DPMNE will not support any constitutional bid to change the name of the country, said Hristijan Mickoski, new leader of the opposition party.
“We are very clear on this subject,” he added during the protest march.
Former prime minister and VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski, who governed Macedonia from 2006 to 2016, was absent from the rally after being sentenced on Wednesday to two years in jail by a Skopje court for abuse of power over the purchase of a luxury Mercedes.
Hungary’s firebrand nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban sent a video message of support in which he hailed the party’s “wise and courageous leaders… who won’t bend under pressure from foreign powers”.
Protests are also being organised for next week in northern Greece where some oppose what they see as a compromise solution being finalised between the Greek and Macedonian leaders.
The agreed new name will almost certainly contain “Macedonia”, an outcome ardently opposed by many Greeks protective over their won northern province of Macedonia — the cradle of the ancient empire of Alexander the Great.
Names in discussion have included “New Macedonia” and “Upper Macedonia”.
According to a senior Macedonian official any name change agreed with Greece would have to be ratified by parliament and then put to a referendum.
In light of Greece’s objections, the country joined the United Nations in 1993 with the unwieldy name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM for short.
But dozens of countries including the United States and Russia have already recognised the country as “Macedonia”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Instructed Jerusalem is Islamic Until ‘Judgment Day’
In the aftermath of the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the decision by other countries to do the same, a Muslim cleric is warning that no Muslim has the right to give up any land to any “ enemy.”
According to Palestinian Media Watch, the threat came from the grand mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories, Sheik Muhammad Hussein, in the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.
“ Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque are an Islamic waqf until Judgment Day; they cannot be sold, given away, or bequeathed, and no one has the right to relinquish them,”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq Court Sentences French Woman to Life for is Membership
BAGHDAD (AFP) — An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced a French woman to life in jail for membership of the Islamic State group as her lawyers accused authorities in Paris of putting pressure on Baghdad to prevent the return of jihadists to France.
Melina Boughedir, a mother of four, was sentenced last February to seven months in prison for “illegal” entry into the country and was set to be deported back to France.
But another court ordered the re-trial of the 27-year-old French citizen under Iraq’s anti-terrorist law and on Sunday she was found guilty of belonging to IS…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq Sentences French Woman to Life for Joining ISIS
An Iraqi court has sentenced a French woman to life in prison for membership in the Islamic State group.
Melina Boughedir, 28, was initially sentenced to six months in jail for entering the country illegally, but the court imposed a tougher sentence Sunday after prosecutors presented new evidence, including pictures of her French husband posing with IS fighters. The verdict can be appealed.
Boughedir, who was detained in the northern city of Mosul last year, appeared in court with her two-year-old daughter. She was represented by three lawyers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Love Match or Arranged? Youth of Today Divided on How to Find a Spouse
Many seek the key to happy marital life. Some think it is in the money. Others see it in romance. A question remains about young people coming to marriage: which is more successful, the marriage resulting from love or that based on mental calculations and better to be arranged?
Kuwait Times spoke with young people to learn more about their ideas of love and arranged marriages. It seems the jury is out on the question. Though more and more youth are turning to love matches for their life long happiness, others still see the value and importance of an arranged marriage.
Love and all its derivatives
Love matches aren’t always that exactly. Sometimes what is meant by a love match is simply that the youth in question have more input on the choice of a spouse. It may be someone that they already know or are already in love with. But it may also be simply that they are not being forced or merely accepting that their parents will find the right person for them. Instead they are involved in the choice and in fact hold the final decision, yay or nay.
Khaled Nassar, 34, a married man, did not agree with Abeer where he sees the marriages. He thinks marriages based on love as more successful than arranged marriages. “The love story is full of feelings and romance, and marriage will continue with love. Traditional marriage often fails or remains rigid between the husband and wife because of a lack of feelings that create the atmosphere for the continuation of life, to avoid clashes.”
For Bijoy Rajan, 25, single, said: “The marriage of love prepare us for a beautiful and stable life. Feelings and emotions make the parties succeed in their married life and the problems disappear. Even if certain problems occurred it would be easy to contain them. My older sister had a rational marriage from a man who was older than her 15 years and because he was a rich man who she thought that she will be happy mistook in married life, but her dreams went wild and the differences began to creep in and their relationship ended with divorce.”
Arranged marriages, more stability?
At the same time, many youth continue to appreciate the value of their parents’ wisdom, especially when it comes to stability in life.
| — Hat tip: RR | [Return to headlines] |
Nearly Half of Afghan Children Are Not in School
A new report says nearly half of Afghanistan’s children are not attending school because of war, poverty, child marriage and other factors.
The study, released by the Education Ministry and the U.N. children’s agency on Sunday, says 3.7 million, or 44 percent, of all school-age children are not attending school. It marks the first time since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 that the rate of attendance has declined, following years of steady gains in education for boys as well as girls, who were banned from attending school under the Taliban.
The survey says girls account for 60 percent of those being denied an education.
The Taliban have seized several districts across the country in recent years, as the U.S.-backed government has struggled to combat the insurgency.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Warns US Sanctions Will Void Trade Talks
China has warned that all trade talks between Beijing and Washington will be void if the US sets up trade sanctions.
After talks between Vice Premier Liu He and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, China said it was ready to boost imports from many countries.
Mr Ross’s China visit comes days after Washington threatened to impose extra tariffs on $50bn of Chinese goods.
Meanwhile, G7 nations have hit out at the US over its new steel and aluminium import tariffs.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire warned a trade war could begin in “a few days”.
On Saturday President Trump insisted on Twitter that the US had been “ripped off by other countries for years on trade”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China is well within its rights to station troops on islands it claims in the South China Sea, the head of the country’s military delegation at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore said on Saturday in response to criticism by US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese scientists are running simulated tests at a faster rate than America as world’s leading powers develop arsenal of ‘usable’ next-generation weapons
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France, Britain to Sail Warships in Contested South China Sea to Challenge Beijing
France and Britain will sail warships through the South China Sea to challenge Beijing’s expanding military presence in the disputed waters, their defence ministers said on Sunday.
The two countries, both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, made the remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, echoing the latest US plan to ramp up its freedom of navigation operations to counter Beijing’s militarisation in the region and its stance that territorial disputes should be a matter between China and its Asian neighbours.
A French maritime task group, together with British helicopters and ships, will visit Singapore next week and then sail “into certain areas” of the South China Sea, French armed forces minister Florence Parly told the annual defence forum.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kim Jong un Sacks North Korea’s Top Military Brass Ahead of Summit With Trump
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly removed his country’s top three military and defense officials from their posts.
U.S. officials suspect that dissension within the military over the North’s dealings with the U.S. and South Korea led Kim to make leadership changes, Reuters reports. The North Korean leader is believed to have replaced Gen. Pak Yong-sik, the defense minister, Gen. Ri Myong-su, chief of the Korean People’s Army’s general staff, and Gen. Kim Jong-gak, director of the military’s General Political Bureau, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing intelligence sources.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines: To Counter Islamic State, Lawmakers Approve Bill to Give Muslims…an Islamic State
The Philippines has moved closer to ending decades of conflict on its resource-rich island of Mindanao, after lawmakers approved a Bill that would eventually grant self-rule for the country’s Muslim minority.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines Eyes Greater Regulation of Islamic Schools
The Philippine defense secretary says authorities there will standardize teaching in both public and private Islamic schools in the wake of a militant siege last year that raised fears of greater radicalization in the country.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Sunday said the country will implement an “institutionalized madrassa system” with standard curriculum and greater oversight from the Department of Education.
Lorenzana said some such schools were found to be run by Muslims with extremist beliefs, making them funnels for the discreet funding of radical activities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
South China Sea Dispute: Beijing Attacks ‘Irresponsible’ US Comments
China has branded as “irresponsible” US comments that it is intimidating its neighbours with its military deployment in the South China Sea.
A top Chinese general said China had the right to deploy troops and weapons “on its own territory”.
Earlier US Defence Secretary James Mattis said Beijing’s actions called into question its broader goals.
Six countries have competing claims in the sea, but China has backed its own with island-building and patrols.
Gen Mattis had made his critical comments at a security summit in Singapore.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to Visit Kim Jong un in North Korea, State Media Says
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will visit Kim Jong Un in North Korea’s capital, the regime’s state media announced Sunday, in what would be the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said Assad expressed willingness to visit Pyongyang to meet with Kim on May 30 while receiving the credentials for the North Korean ambassador.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
They are the regular Weekend Today guests who often find themselves at odds with each other on-air.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Australia’s Commonwealth Bank Agrees to US$530 Mln Fine Over Money-Laundering Breaches
SYDNEY (AFP) — The Commonwealth Bank Monday agreed to the largest civil penalty in Australian corporate history to settle claims it breached anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
The Aus$700 million (US$530 million) fine — which is subject to court approval — comes after mediation between the nation’s biggest bank and the country’s financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC.
It follows the lender being taken to court last August for “serious and systemic non-compliance” of anti-money laundering laws more than 53,000 times, with AUSTRAC filing 100 further claims in December.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Barbie Bombers: Bombs Allegedly Intended to Blow Up Etihad Plane After 20 Minutes
Bombs intended to blow up a Sydney plane were allegedly set to explode after 20 minutes
BOMBS intended to blow up a plane leaving Sydney were allegedly set to explode over the Blue Mountains, in what would have been Australia’s most catastrophic terror attack.
Amer Khayat, one of three brothers accused of trying to plant bombs on an Etihad Airways flight out of Sydney last year, allegedly told Lebanese police the devices had been fitted with self-timers that would explode after 20 minutes.
By this point, the plane would have been just west of the Blue Mountains.
Lebanese police claimed he told authorities the bombs never made it onto the plane because Etihad said the doll, which weighed 3.5kg, was too heavy to be taken as hand-luggage.
The 40-year-old father-of-two has since retracted his confession, telling News Corp Australia from Central Prison in east Beirut that he is “not a terrorist” and “wants to go home”.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-Sex Worker Made a Dame in New Zealand Honours List
WELLINGTON (AFP) — A former sex worker was made a dame in the Queen’s Birthday honours list in New Zealand on Monday, in recognition of her services to the sex industry.
Catherine Healy was instrumental in bringing about New Zealand’s 2003 decriminalising of sex work and the introduction of some of the most liberal prostitution laws in the world.
But the 62-year-old said she was surprised at the honour, which officially makes her a dame companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Matilda Bawden (pictured), is furious about being stuck living with a migrant who refuses to pay rent or leave — after she opened her South Australian home to addicts, ex-offenders and homeless people.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
But concerns have been raised over suppressing New Zealanders’ right to free speech. Unlike in the UK, hate crime is not a specific offence in New Zealand.
They are coded under existing crime categories but police have started consulting with community leaders to consider the pros and cons of recording the data separately.
The consultation is taking place via the Police Commissioner’s Maori, Pacific and ethnic advisory forums. “Police take all reports of crime seriously, especially when the actions of individuals attack a person or group of people directly,” a spokesman told the Herald on Sunday.
“The changing demographics in this country has required police to seriously consider a wider discussion which focuses on the rights of individuals to be safe and feel safe regardless of who and where they come from.” The Sentencing Act does consider hate as an aggravating factor when sentencing offenders, a position that police supported.
[Comment: Note the word “feel”… laws will be used to oppress the native western populations and criticism of mass migration aka population replacement.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cattle Rustlers Kill 23 in Northern Nigeria
Cattle thieves have killed 23 people in northern Nigeria’s Zamfara state which has been battling cattle rustling and kidnapping in recent months, a local government official said late Saturday.
Armed bandits on motorcycles invaded Zanoka village in the state on Friday, opening fire on residents and burning homes, said Mustapha Muhammad, the chairman of the local government area.
“We buried 23 people killed in the attack, including vigilantes who tried to fight off the bandits”, he said.
“They torched homes and burnt some of their victims alive before fleeing into the bus.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
South Africans’ Anger Over Land Set to Explode
In a country grappling with so many different challenges, land reform in South Africa has recently emerged as a dominant and potentially explosive issue — the focus of furious political contestation and increasingly inflammatory rhetoric.
“Africa is for black people. Period. We need our land back and we’re going to take it by force,” said a woman amongst an angry crowd trying to occupy a field on the north-eastern edge of Johannesburg.
She is wearing a red beret indicating her support for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a small, radical party which advocates the nationalisation of all land in South Africa.
Across South Africa, such scenes and confrontations are becoming more common, as frustration with the slow pace of land reform grows.
And with it, frequently, is a growing bitterness about the enduring economic power of the country’s white minority.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ecuador: No Set Date for Assange to Have Access to the Internet
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ecuador’s foreign minister, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, said on Monday that there is no set date for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to regain access to the internet in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London where he has taken shelter since 2012.
Ecuador’s government cut off Assange’s internet connection in March after he made social media posts decrying the arrest of a Catalan separatist politician.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ambassador Grenell: Chain Migration a Key Issue for Germany
BERLIN, Germany: While the flow of migrants has slowed since the peak of the migrant crisis in 2015, U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell has warned that chain migration has become a crucial issue for Germany.
The ambassador, speaking exclusively to Breitbart London, noted that chain migration, labelled family reunification in Germany, allows residents to bring over an almost unlimited number of family members to the United States, and is the chief issue for the German government as recognized asylum seekers increasingly demand it.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Angela Merkel Knew of Problems at BAMF Refugee Agency: Report
The ex-head of Germany’s refugee agency has alleged he told Angela Merkel about the excessive demands placed on staff. A BAMF official is facing allegations she received bribes in exchange for processing asylum requests.
The former head of Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has alleged he twice warned Chancellor Angela Merkel about the excessive workload and demands being placed on agency staff.
Frank-Jürgen Weise told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper that he had expressed his grievances during face-to-face talks with Merkel over how asylum requests were managed at BAMF.
After heading the federal refugee agency between October 2015 and December 2016, Weise also wrote two reports for the federal government on his experiences at the helm of BAMF…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
At Least 46 Migrants Drown Off Tunisia; 9 Killed Off Turkey
A boat carrying migrants toward Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia and at least 46 people drowned, though dozens more could be missing, the North African nation’s defense ministry said Sunday.
The ministry said 68 people were rescued overnight after the boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Kerkennah island, off Tunisia’s eastern coast. Authorities said the vessel was believed to have been carrying about 180 passengers.
[Comment: Article dated June 3, 2018.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Construction Breaks Ground on Trump’s Border Wall With “Anti-Climbing Plate” In San Diego
Construction has just started on a 14-mile section of President Trump’s new border wall along the Mexico—United States border and will include “anti-climbing plates” to deter illegal border crossings.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dunkirk: Lorry Driver Stabbed by Migrants Trying to Break Into Britain
A lorry driver has been “seriously injured” by two migrants who were trying to break into his vehicle for a ride to Britain at a rest stop near Dunkirk.
The Lithuanian was taking a break after several hours of driving, at a rest area in the town of Craywick in France last week, when he heard noises in his truck.
Climbing onto the roof to investigate, the driver discovered his tarp had been slashed by two migrants who had entered the vehicle, expecting a ride into Britain.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Paris Migrant Tent Camps Cleared as 1,000 Living in ‘Abominable’ Conditions on Streets
FRENCH police evacuated two refugee camps in central Paris as authorities move in quickly to keep a lid on illegal immigration. About 1,000 migrants were cleared from the camps, in the second evacuation operation in the past week.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Merkel Under Fire Over Migration Office Scandal
German Chancellor Angela Merkel came under pressure Sunday over a brewing scandal surrounding the office charged with processing more than a million asylum seekers who have arrived in the country since 2015.
The affair stems from allegations that an employee of the branch office of the German migration agency (BAMF) in the city of Bremen may have granted asylum to 1,200 migrants in exchange for money or gifts in kind.
Investigators opened a probe in April into “organised abuse of the asylum procedure” as well as for “corruption or bribery” and Merkel’s government has pledged a thorough inquiry.
The employee insists she was simply overwhelmed by the large number of cases landing on her desk with Germany having received than a million asylum seekers since 2015.
However, the former head of BAMF, Frank-Juergen Weise, added fuel to the political fire when he accused Merkel of knowing about wider problems at the agency since at least last year and neglecting to deal with them.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Get Ready to Pack Your Bags, ‘ Italy’s Interior Minister Tells Migrants
Italy’s new hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini will be in Sicily Sunday to push the anti-immigration platform that propelled him to power at one of the country’s main landing points for refugees.
The head of the far-right League is on the road seeking to rally support for his party’s candidates in municipal elections later this month, as part of a broader effort to boost the traditionally secessionist party’s profile in the country’s poorer south.
But immigration is Salvini’s primary bugbear and the newly minted deputy prime minister in Italy’s populist coalition government has added a stop in migration hotspot Pozzallo…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
‘Help us or Else’ Italy’s Deputy PM Issues Chilling Warning to EU Over Migrant Crisis
ITALY’S new Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has issued a “help us or else” warning to the EU over the migrant crisis — a day after declaring the country was not “Europe’s refugee camp”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Salvini in Sicily to Push New Tough Migration Line
Italy’s new hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini arrived on Sunday in Sicily, one of the country’s main refugee landing points, to push the anti-immigration platform that propelled him to power.
The head of the far-right League is on the road seeking to rally support for his party’s candidates in municipal elections later this month, as part of a broader effort to boost the traditionally secessionist party’s profile in the country’s poorer south.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: I’ll Find Convergence With Church on Migrants — Salvini
Reception within rules is in everyone’s interests
(ANSA) — Rome, June 1 — New Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Friday he would find “convergence” with the Catholic Church on his planned crackdown on undocumented migrants. “I have started to cultivate useful and numerous relations with various exponents of the Catholic world,” said the anti-migrant League leader. “We’ll work together, we’ll amaze you, we will decidedly find convergences”. He said “there is much more closeness than distance with them because (migrant) reception, within the limits and rules and possibilities, is an interest of all I think”. On the campaign trail Salvini vowed to expel 600,000 undocumented migrants and set up detention centres in all Italian towns.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Cannot be ‘Europe’s Refugee Camp’: New Deputy PM Salvini
POZZALLO (ITALY) (AFP) — Italy’s new hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini said Sunday that “common sense” was needed to stop the country from becoming “Europe’s refugee camp” as he visited a migrant centre in the south.
The newly minted deputy prime minister in Italy’s populist coalition government travelled to Sicily, one of the country’s main refugee landing points, to push the anti-immigration platform that propelled him to power.
“Italy and Sicily cannot be Europe’s refugee camp,” he told a crowd of supporters under the blazing sun in the port town of Pozzallo, a migration hotspot…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: “The Party is Over” For Illegal Migrants
An estimated 700,000 migrants have arrived in Italy during the past five years. — International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“There are not enough homes or jobs for Italians, let alone for half the African continent.” — Matteo Salvini, Interior Minister, Italy.
This law [Article 10 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights] effectively prevents Italy and other EU members from deporting migrants to most countries in the Muslim world.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Pack Your Bags’: Italy’s New Interior Minister Talks Tough on Migrants
AFP — Italy’s new hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini will be in Sicily Sunday to push the anti-immigration platform that propelled him to power at one of the country’s main landing points for refugees.
The head of the far-right League is on the road seeking to rally support for his party’s candidates in municipal elections later this month, as part of a broader effort to boost the traditionally secessionist party’s profile in the country’s poorer south.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Prosecutions of Illegal Border Jumpers Surged in April After Sessions Issued ‘Zero Tolerance’ Order
Criminal prosecutions of people arrested trying to cross the southwest border illegally surged in April, following an order from Attorney General Jeff Sessions that adopted a “zero tolerance” policy for unlawful entry.
Federal prosecutors accepted 8,298 unlawful entry case referrals from Customs and Border Protection in April, about 30 percent more than the 6,368 they took on in March, according to a report released Monday by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). The prosecution data is based on records of cases referred by CBP, which TRAC receives as a result of its successful open records lawsuit against the government.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain Rescues 240 Migrants, 1 Dies Crossing Mediterranean
Spain’s maritime rescue service says it has rescued 240 people but one person apparently drowned while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.
The service says Sunday that its agents spotted a body floating underwater after their rescue ship had saved 41 migrants from a sinking smugglers’ boat.
The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden’s Prime Minister Wants to Stop Talking About Immigration
Sweden’s Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, has found a solution to his party’s crisis: Stop talking about immigration, Sweden’s Fria Tider reports.
Löfven’s Social Democrats collapse to historically low numbers while the Swedish Democrats are getting stronger in opinion polls.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia Boat Capsizes Killing Dozens of Migrants
At least 35 migrants died after their boat capsized off the southern coast of Tunisia, the Tunisian government says.
Sixty-seven others — from Tunisia and elsewhere — were rescued by the coastguard.
The country has become an important new route for migrants trying to make the crossing to Europe in the past year.
This comes after moves against human traffickers in Libya, who have regularly enslaved, tortured or murdered migrants.
The latest boat to go down off Tunisia was packed with about 180 people, most of whom were Tunisian, the country’s interior ministry said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UN Has Only Recommended Tiny Token Numbers of Syrian Christians for Resettlement in the UK
Critics accused the United Nations in general and the British government in particular of continuing to discriminate against Christian refugees in favor of Muslim refugees from Syria. Barnabas Fund said it had “finally obtained figures proving that the UN has only recommended tiny token numbers of Syrian Christians … for resettlement in the UK,” whereas the “overwhelming majority of refugees recommended by the UN have been Sunni Muslims who form the majority in Syria. But Christians, and other minorities, have been repeatedly targeted for attack by Islamist groups such as IS… Disturbingly, UK officials tried to prevent the release of this information.” — United Nations and the United Kingdom; Barnabas Fund.
“After several reports showed that Christians were being systematically persecuted in German asylum homes, the problem has now moved from the homes to the streets…” — Germany; Chris Tomlinson, Breitbart.
“Showing repentance will no longer prevent the death penalty from being applied for blasphemy and apostasy…” — Mauritania; News 24.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
War Erupts Between Italy’s Government and Soros: “You Profited From the Death of Hundreds of People”
A feud has broken out between liberal billionaire activist and fervent Clinton supporter, George Soros, and Italy’s anti-immigrant League party, which on Friday formed a populist movement in coalition with the 5-Star party, and whose leader Matteo Salvini stepped into his new job as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior on Friday, pledging to deport hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Windrush Migrants Deported for Serious Crimes Should Stay Out of the UK Says Javid
SAJID Javid yesterday insisted he did not want 32 Windrush migrants who were deported after committing serious crimes to return to Britain.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China’s LGBT Community Finds Trouble, Hope at End of Rainbow
BEIJING (AFP) — When two women wearing rainbow badges were beaten up by security guards in an arty part of Beijing last month, social media users quickly jumped in to fight their corner.
China’s LGBT community may not get much support from authorities, but in a sign of growing tolerance in Chinese society, people are using the power of hashtag campaigns to denounce attacks on gays and lesbians.
The two women were walking in Beijing’s trendy “798” district days before the May 17 International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia when they were suddenly surrounded and beaten by a group of black-clad security guards…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Gay Teachers ‘Won’t Recruit,’ Slate Claims
(AIM) — A case in Texas in which a teacher was transferred from an elementary school to a high school in her district after showing students pictures of her with her same-sex partner points out the need not merely to not discriminate against gays but to actively pursue a gay agenda in America’ s classrooms, according to a story published this week at Slate.
After the teacher showed her 4th-grade class a photograph of herself and her fiancée dressed as characters from the movie “ Finding Nemo,” as part of a slide show telling them about her “ family,” parents accused the teacher of promoting a homosexual agenda.
[Comment: “Jammins” to achieve normalization. https://albertmohler.com/2004/06/03/after-the-ball-why-the-homosexual-movement-has-won/ http://www.dijg.de/english/homosexuality-marketing-gay-right-media/]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
By Robert Spencer
Once again we see it. In The Coming of the Third Reich, historian Richard J. Evans explains how, in the early days of National Socialist Germany, Stormtroopers (Brownshirts) “organized campaigns against unwanted professors in the local newspapers [and] staged mass disruptions of their lectures.” To express dissent from Nazi positions became a matter of taking one’s life into one’s hands. The idea of people of opposing viewpoints airing their disagreements in a civil and mutually respectful manner was gone. One was a Nazi, or one was silent (and fearful).
Luke O’Brien of the Huffington Post is the modern-day Brownshirt who has targeted and attempted to destroy the life of Amy Mek, who recounts the success he has had here. This Huffington Post article is the equivalent of the Brownshirts’ “organized campaigns against unwanted professors in the local newspapers.” Amy Mek has committed no crime; the reason why her life must be destroyed, as far as Luke O’Brien is concerned, is because she is “racist” and “Islamophobic.” As evidence, O’Brien points out that she has praised Milo, who is so “racist” that he is in a gay marriage with a black man; as for “Islamophobia,” of course O’Brien means that she opposes jihad mass murder and Sharia oppression of women, non-Muslims, and others — in O’Brien’s mind, as a doctrinaire Left-fascist, all those who oppose such things are “bigots.”
The targeting of Amy Mek is bigger than Amy Mek, just as Britain’s jailing of Tommy Robinson is bigger than Tommy Robinson. You may not like Amy Mek. You may think she should go about things with a different style. But make no mistake: the Huffington Post and Luke O’Brien are sending you a message. That message is this: if you dare to dissent from the Leftist agenda, if you dare to oppose jihad terror and stand for the equality of rights of all people against Sharia oppression, we will destroy you.
They will brook no dissent, any more than Comrade Stalin or the Führer did.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
SCOTUS Overturns Case Against Gay-Biased Baker
The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding over religious reasons. In a landmark 7-2 ruling (Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor against), the Court found that the decision by Jack Philips of Masterpiece Cakeshop to refuse the same-sex couple’s request is protected under the first amendment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Diversity Staff at the University of Michigan is Nearly 100 Full-Time Employees
There are various reasons for surging education costs, but the primary one is the expansion of university administration in recent decades.
We’ve previously noted that the diversity movement is taking on certain aspects of religious faith. It appears, however, that we missed a similarity: Like the priests of ancient Egypt who amassed huge fortunes for themselves and the medieval popes who sold forgiveness and indulgences, the diversity faithful have found profit in their beliefs.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter ‘Bans Women Against Trans Ideology’, Say Feminists
Twitter is banning women who “speak out against the dangerous dogma of trans ideology”, a feminist group has said.
In a letter to Twitter director Martha Lane Fox, Fair Play for Women says the company is allowing “a concerted attack on women’s free speech”.
But trans activist Ashleigh Talbot said the group’s letter seeks to “whip up” hatred against trans people.
Fair Play for Women also said women receive abuse for talking “about their biology” — including being threatened with violence and referred to as Terfs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Women Vote More to the Left Than Men
A wide-ranging studyexternal link on voting behaviour by gender reported in the international press last month found that young women are more likely to vote for leftwing parties than their male counterparts.
This appears to have been the case for some time, notably in Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. The trend was also evident in the last Swiss parliamentary elections in 2015.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Today is the Golden Age for Dinosaur Discoveries
As more countries open their borders to paleontology, a new generation of dino hunters is uncovering almost one new species a week.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Manipulated bond prices a calendar event.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-04/italians-angry-after-ecb-admits-it-slashed-purchases-italian-debt-during-recent
Watch the spin in this…
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/969188/far-Right-terror-threat-sajid-javid-home-secretary/amp
While at ground level it is just “thugs”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5806787/amp/Shocking-moment-masked-thugs-attack-car-MACHETES-horrifying-broad-daylight-assault.html
The mistake is that the extreme right are not terrorists in the “classic sense” ( and terrorism is a misnomer of a catch all anyway – jihadis come to fight and destroy a country by any means for example, other acts are retaliatory, local violence is territorial etc.) , as far as I make out when they attack it is not the population at whole, but political, race based or establishment targets, i.e. so far no completely indiscriminate attacks on the population as a whole to demand political concession…much as establishment likes to imagine it represents all of society – it doesn’t.
The Boughedir case is a real mess :
She served a full seven month sentence for illegal enty to Iraq, was released after ten months (?) and had the French embassy arranging a flight to france, was then accused by Iraqi prosecution of participating in terrorism (basically for entering Daesh territory to join husband) based on not having revealed details of her husband , was placed in custody and sentenced to life. Just before the trial the french foreign minister Le Drian spoke publicly calling her a combatant, which had her defence team up in arms about fair trial and prejudicing the case.
I guess the moral of the story is not to trust anyone.
While it is unfortunate that she was chosen to be made an example of, it is difficult for me to have any sympathy for her. She, at least will get to go on living and will likely be quietly released when the spotlight has passed. However, the innocent victims that her “husband” likely raped or murdered will not ever get their lives back. It is for them that she is being punished, and she should call herself fortunate that she is only being imprisoned.
Westerners seem to think that the laws in less-enlightened countries do not apply to them, and that their governments will get them out of trouble if they should fall into the hands of third-world legal systems. Maybe her being made an example of will save other foolish Western girls from making the same mistake.
I am not sure she is even being made an example of, it looks more like a section of the french services tried to return her and the foreign minister drew a line under that. She is wanted in France as well for association, has/had an interpol warrant issued for her arrest, and three of her children have been returned to france from Iraq. The point is that if you go abroad in company of militia, you not only face whatever fate the country you go to bestows on those caught, but you are also likely to end up a pawn in a political show. “Fortunately” for her, her notoriety and nationality will act as protection in jail, and her children are being provided for by the french ( ripostelaique labelled the children as timebombs). Locals in a similar circumstance I don’t think would be as fortunate, to put it lightly.
I think now it will just be made one of those human rights cases that is drawn from the hat every now and again by one side or the other whenever it is convenient, a small drama to keep people focused on or distracted from whatever.