Gates of Vienna News Feed 7/6/2018

At a Mass for migrants in St Peter’s Basilica today, Pope Francis said that God wants to use our hands to rescue migrants. The pontiff also said that the Good Samaritan did not ask for documents when he was helping a victim.

In other news, the Texas man who assaulted a teenaged supporter of Donald Trump and took his MAGA hat has been arrested for theft.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dora, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, Samuel, Srdja Trifkovic, SS, 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.

Financial Crisis
» S&P Cuts Italy’s 2018 Growth Forecast to 1.3%
» U.S. Added 213,000 Jobs in June as Unemployment Rose From an 18-Year-Low
» Unemployment in Poland Drops to 28-Year Low: Labour Minister
 
USA
» ‘Chicago Four’ Member Who Tortured Disabled Teen Live on Facebook Gets Nine-Year Sentence
» Columbus Man Sentenced to 80 Months for Attempting to Support ISIS
» ISIS Sympathizer Smacked by Long Arm of the Law in 20-Year Sentence
» Man Who Ripped MAGA Hat From Kid’s Head is Arrested for Theft
» SC Man Accused of Trying to Join Terrorist Group Set to Change Plea
» Slain Boy’s Father Sat Front Row in Court to Face Accused Murderers: ‘I Wanted Them to Look at Me’
» Thousands of Genetically Engineered Foods Could be Exempt From GMO Labeling
» Whataburger Assailant Arrested After Assaulting Teen, Stealing MAGA Hat
 
Europe and the EU
» Barack Obama to Visit Norway in September
» Catalan President Calls for Independence Referendum
» Cervelat-Gate: Politician Offers Kids 2,000 Swiss Sausages After Outcry Over Pork-Free School Picnic
» Controversial German Author Takes Random House to Court After it Axes His Book on Islam
» France Underestimates Possible Attacks on Its Nuclear Plants as Islamists Could Have Access Already: Report
» French Ambassador Who Backed Orban is Awarded Hungary State Honour
» Italy: Basilicata Governor Put Under House Arrest
» Italy: Eject Leftwingers From Judiciary, League Official Says
» Italy: Man Nabbed for Raping Partner’s Teen Daughter
» Italy Worse Than EU Average for Poverty, Social Exclusion
» Majority of Swedes Want to See Calls to Prayer Banned in Their Country
» Major UK Retailer Bans Kitchen Knife Sales in Answer to Violent Crime Wave
» Merkel’s Fading Star
» Nantes in Flames: Third Night of Riots in French City After Police Shoot Criminal ‘Aboubakar Fofana’
» Opinion: Germany’s Sidelined Social Democrats Left With Bad Options, Again
» Outcry as Japanese Makers of ‘Exceptional’ Wine Told to Quit France
» Paris Attacks Suspect Linked to Horrific Pilot Killing by ISIS
» Salvini Hits Back at Rolling Stone Magazine After Front Page Attack
» Sky’s the Limit! Trump Ready to Offer ‘Zero Tariff’ Trade Deal to Make Brexit Britain Boom
» Sweden Turns Right: Patriotic Sweden Democrats by Far the Largest Party
» UK: Campaign for ‘Baby Khan’ Balloon Smashes £10k Target
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Arab Press Praises Continuing Arson Attacks From Gaza
» IDF Deploys Iron Dome Against on-Going Missile Attacks
 
Middle East
» Milk Boycott in Saudi Arabia After Morocco
 
Russia
» A Better Life Prevails Over Political Protests for Russia’s Young People
 
Far East
» Tokyo Sarin Attack: Aum Shinrikyo Cult Leaders Executed
 
Australia — Pacific
» Chinese Couple, 51 and 56, Are Arrested After for ‘Running a Drug Lab in Their Sydney Home’ — With Detectives Uncovering 150 Litres of Liquid Meth Inside
» Muslim Labor MP Claims ‘The West’ Is Oppressing China — and Wants the ‘Rules’ To Change to Let the Dictatorship Have More Power
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Man Who Called for the Genocide of White South Africans Goes Unpunished
 
Immigration
» Calls to Abolish ICE Omit That Majority of Immigrants Agency Arrests Are Convicted Criminals
» Clinton WH Official: Illegal Immigrant Asylum Seekers Should ‘Be in the Community, ‘ Not ‘Jailed’
» Germany Planning to Palm Migrants Off on Greece and Italy After Austria Meeting
» ‘God Wants Our Hands to Rescue’ Migrants, Pope Says
» Greece Will Not be Turned Into Migrant Warehouse, Says Minister
» Illegal Migrant Population in Paris No-Go Zone Suburbs Hits 400,000
» Illegal Immigrant Suspected in Ohio Teen Rape Captured in Texas
» Italian Newspaper Claims ‘Global Elite’ Working to Transform Europe Through Mass Migration
» Judge Upholds Key Parts of California Sanctuary Policies
» Liberals Protest Arrest of Illegals Running Child Sex Trafficking Operation From Their Home
» Migrants Reaching Spain by Sea Up 120 Percent
» Orban Tells Merkel: 5,000 Migrants Would Enter Germany Every Day if Hungary Didn’t Defend the Border
» Pope to Immigrants: The Good Samaritan Did Not Ask for ‘Documents’
» ‘Schengen is Dead’ Blasts French Eurosceptic in Fierce Attack on Macron
» South Korea: Syrian Man Arrested for Promoting ISIS Terrorism
» The Liberal Stampede to ‘Abolish ICE’
 
Culture Wars
» James Woods Suggests Agent Dropped Him Over Politics
» Now Facebook Claims Gospel Video is ‘Political’
» The Meaning of Good and Evil in Perilous Times
 

S&P Cuts Italy’s 2018 Growth Forecast to 1.3%

Standard and Poor’s said in report released on Friday that it has cut its growth forecast for Italy for 2018 to 1.3%, down from 1.5%.

The agency said that “uncertainty about politics and trade will probably lead to slower investment growth”.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Added 213,000 Jobs in June as Unemployment Rose From an 18-Year-Low

U.S. hiring topped forecasts in June while unemployment rose from an 18-year low and wage gains unexpectedly slowed, indicating the labor market is still absorbing spare capacity.

Payrolls rose 213,000 after an upwardly revised 244,000 advance, Labor Department figures showed Friday. The median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg called for a gain of 195,000 jobs. Average hourly earnings advanced 2.7 percent from a year earlier, while the jobless rate increased to 4 percent from 3.8 percent, the first rise in almost a year.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Unemployment in Poland Drops to 28-Year Low: Labour Minister

Elzbieta Rafalska said that the number of jobless people had fallen to below 1 million.

“We’ve waited a long time for this. The level of registered unemployment fell to 969,000 people at the end of June,” Rafalska said. The last time unemployment in Poland stood at that level was in October 1990, she added.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘Chicago Four’ Member Who Tortured Disabled Teen Live on Facebook Gets Nine-Year Sentence

A Chicago man pleaded guilty to kidnapping a mentally disabled teen and beating him with three friends on Facebook Live in 2017.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Columbus Man Sentenced to 80 Months for Attempting to Support ISIS

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A man from Columbus has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for attempting to provide material to support ISIS.

According to the Department of Justice, Aaron Travis Daniels, 21, also known as Harun Muhammad, or Abu Yusef of Columbus was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 80 months in prison for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.

Documents filed with the court say Daniels met with an ISIS recruiter in December 2015 and sent funds to ISIS in order to “show his worth” to an ISIS recruiter.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Sympathizer Smacked by Long Arm of the Law in 20-Year Sentence

The Department of Justice sentenced a Virginia man to 20 years in prison for blocking a counterterrorism investigation, according to the DOJ on Friday.

Sean Andrew Duncan, a 22-year-old from Sterling, Virginia, “altered, destroyed, mutilated, concealed and covered up a thumb drive and memory chip with the intent to impede and obstruct an FBI terrorism investigation,” said the DOJ press release.

The DOJ learned of Duncan’s interest in working with the Islamic State in June 2017.

A family member complained that he started expressing radical views after marrying Zakiya Sadeq in January 2016, according to court documents.

The doubts were confirmed after an ISIS recruiter was arrested by foreign law officials in October 2017, where officials found a handwritten name, “Sean Ibn Gary Duncan,” with Duncan’s contact information.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Man Who Ripped MAGA Hat From Kid’s Head is Arrested for Theft

A Texas man who allegedly stole a teenager’s Make America Great Again Hat and threw a drink in his face at a San Antonio Whataburger on Tuesday night has been arrested.

The whole incident was captured on video and shows Kino Jimenez, 30, yanking a hat off of the head of Hunter Richard, 16. Jimenez told Richard, “This is gonna go right in my f**king fireplace, b*tch.” There is no evidence the two knew each other prior to the event.[see video]

Jimenez was tracked down by robbery task force detectives outside of San Antonio and arrested for theft of person, reported My San Antonio.

Jimenez was fired from his job at San Antonio bar Rumble on Wednesday, just a day after the video went viral. Rumble wrote a Facebook post to condemn Jimenez’s actions. […]

Richard will continue to support President Donald Trump.

“I support my President and if you don’t let’s have a conversation about it instead of ripping my hat off,” he told WOAI-TV. “I just think a conversation about politics is more productive for the entire whole rather than taking my hat and yelling subjective words to me.”

           — Hat tip: Dora [Return to headlines]
 

SC Man Accused of Trying to Join Terrorist Group Set to Change Plea

Columbia — A Lowcountry man who authorities say tried to join a Middle Eastern terrorist organization will have a change of plea hearing, multiple news organizations are reporting.

Court documents say that Zakaryia Abdin of Ladson, SC is set to appear on Aug. 8 in a federal courtroom in downtown Charleston for the hearing, according to WCBD of Mount Pleasant.

The 19-year-old originally pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Slain Boy’s Father Sat Front Row in Court to Face Accused Murderers: ‘I Wanted Them to Look at Me’

Benjamin Eastman headed to court on Monday with a purpose: to look straight at the people accused of sexually assaulting and murdering his 16-year-old son after luring the boy into the woods.

Eastman sat in the front row of the courtroom gallery in Chehalis, Washington, alongside a friend and his mother, local TV station KOMO reports. He “leaned in” on the railing dividing the public from the defendants so that he could not be avoided.

“I wanted them to look at me,” Eastman told KOMO of suspected killers Jonathan Adamson and Benito “Benny” Marquez. “I wanted to look them in the eye.”

Adamson, 21, and Marquez, his 16-year-old brother, are both charged with first-degree rape and murder as well as tampering with physical evidence and unlawful disposal of remains in the beating death of Eastman’s son, Ben…

According to charging documents obtained by PEOPLE, Marquez, who is being prosecuted as an adult, was a longtime friend of Ben’s. He and his brother allegedly lured Ben into the woods for a camping trip on June 24, but then knocked him to the ground and assaulted him for up to 45 minutes.

The charging documents allege that Adamson told police he and Marquez sexually assaulted Ben with a stick while Ben was still alive.

Before burying Ben along with his clothes and the shovel they used to dig his grave, the brothers beat him in the head with a rock to ensure he was dead, authorities suspect.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Thousands of Genetically Engineered Foods Could be Exempt From GMO Labeling

(AP) — As the U.S. Department of Agriculture works to establish a uniform national standard for labeling foods that may be genetically engineered, critics continue to call out the dangers of putting the federal government in charge of the situation. The federal government was first granted this authority in July 2016 when former President Obama signed into law a bill which amended the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the national standard for labeling GE foods. The bill was hailed as a victory for activists, and a boost for the economy as it would help keep food costs down for low income families. Unfortunately, the bill was neither.

Instead, the bill denied states and localities the right to choose how to label food that has been genetically engineered and gave the power to label the food to a government with well-known close relationships to the biotechnology industry, including Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta and others. Evidence that it was not a wise idea to give the U.S. government authority over labeling genetically engineered crops has already appeared as reports indicate that a large number of crops may be exempt from labeling.

In early May, the Department of Agriculture released a draft rule describing how the labeling law is supposed to be implemented. Between May and July 3, the USDA received 14,008 public comments. The comments indicate that some of the public is concerned about the language used in the rule. “The term bioengineered should not be used. It is both misleading and confusing to consumers. GMO, GE or Genetic Engineering should be used instead,” one commenter writes. “Please make all food items labeled correctly as GMO so consumers know exactly what they are purchasing,” another said.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Whataburger Assailant Arrested After Assaulting Teen, Stealing MAGA Hat

A 30-year-old man who threw soda onto a table of teenagers at a San Antonio Whataburger has been arrested for stealing 16-year-old Trump supporter Hunter Richard’s red MAGA hat, according to local news outlet MySanAntonio.com

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Barack Obama to Visit Norway in September

Former US President Barack Obama is to visit Norway in the autumn, where he will speak at Oslo Business Forum.

Obama will give a speech at the Future of Technology and Sustainability conference on September 26th, Oslo Business Forum announced on its website.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Catalan President Calls for Independence Referendum

The Catalan President is calling for a Scottish-style independence referendum.

Quim Torra is set to meet the Spanish PM on Monday and he’s showing no signs of cooling off the push for autonomy from the ruling elite in Madrid.

He said: “What we have asked for for years is a referendum like they had in the United Kingdom with Scotland.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Cervelat-Gate: Politician Offers Kids 2,000 Swiss Sausages After Outcry Over Pork-Free School Picnic

Right-wing politician Andrea Glarner has offered to donate 2,000 Cervelat sausages to Swiss schoolchildren after their teachers asked parents to avoid bringing pork to an end-of-term picnic.

“I don’t wish to force Muslim children to eat pork,” said Glarner, a member of the nationalist Swiss People’s Party (SVP), “but we cannot have our children denied Cervelat!”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Controversial German Author Takes Random House to Court After it Axes His Book on Islam

Publishing giant Random House has declined to release a new book by controversial German politician-turned-author Thilo Sarrazin over fears it could whip up anti-Muslim hatred.

The dispute, which will be heard before a court in Munich on Monday, revolves around Sarrazin’s new book “Hostile Takeover — How Islam Hampers Progress and Threatens Society”, Bild Zeitung reported on Friday.

In 2010 Sarrazin, a former central banker and Berlin state finance minister, published the incendiary book “Germany Does Away With Itself”, arguing that undereducated Muslim migrants were making the country “more stupid”.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

France Underestimates Possible Attacks on Its Nuclear Plants as Islamists Could Have Access Already: Report

A report on the safety of French nuclear power plants was recently made public. Some information in it is quite shocking as individuals who pose a national security could have entered some of the plants, Le Dauphine reports.

After 83 auditions and 7 visits to nuclear plants, the parliamentary commission on nuclear installations’s safety and security published its conclusions.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

French Ambassador Who Backed Orban is Awarded Hungary State Honour

The accolade is usually bestowed upon leading Hungarian scientists, artists and athletes. But on Friday the outgoing French ambassador to Hungary was awarded the country’s highest honour, days after a diplomatic memo leaked in which he praised Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his migrant policy.

Orban’s policy is a stark contrast to the French government’s, forcing French President Emanuelle Macron to publicly rebuke the ambassador, Eric Fournier.

Fournier was given the Order of Merit, Commander Cross, by Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto at a ceremony in Budapest

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Basilicata Governor Put Under House Arrest

Pittella among suspects in health-sector probe

(ANSA) — Matera, July 6 — Basilicata Governor Marcello Pittella, a member of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), was put under house arrest early on Friday in relation to a probe into alleged corruption in the southern region’s health system, sources said.

Pittella was later suspended from his post as governor.

Pittella was among 30 people put under restrictive measures by finance police in relation to the investigation, the sources said. People close to the governor confirmed that he is under house arrest at his home in Lauria, near Potenza, and described his involvement in the case as “surreal”. Pittella is accused of abuse of office and of making false declarations, the sources said.

The probe regards allegations of manipulation of public contract competitions and nepotism on the regional health sector.

The investigation started a year and a half ago following a report by an employee for service contractor company who had not received his share of money set aside for the TFR severance package.

Prosecutors said Pittella was the “deus ex machina” of “institutional distortion”.

He and the others were able to enforce “a total political conditioning of the public health service on the part of private interests and clientist political logic”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Eject Leftwingers From Judiciary, League Official Says

Legnini asks Bonafede to take action

(ANSA) — Rome, July 6 — Justice Undersecretary Jacopo Morrone, a member of the rightwing populist League party, has caused a stir by calling on the Italian judiciary “to eject its leftwing factions”.

Magistrates union ANM called his call “extremely serious and unacceptable” while the effective head of the judiciary’s self-governing body, Giovanni Legnini, urged Justice Minister Alfonso Bonafede to take action.

Legnini, deputy head of the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM) — President Sergio Mattarella is the titular head — said freedom of association was guaranteed by the Italian Constitution, for magistrates too.

He said Morrone’s words on the leftwing factions were “neither shared not accepted”.

He said “the value of freedom of association cannot be denied”.

Bonafede is a member of the League’s partner in Italy’s new populist government, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S).

Morrone’s call came as League leader and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini reiterated that he wants to talk to President Sergio Mattarella following a court order for almost 49 million euros to be seized from his party. “I must have the joy and honour to speak to my president as soon as possible,” Salvini said during an event at the interior ministry.

“I ask for, and respectfully await, the setting of a date to talk about the many wonderful things we are doing”. On Tuesday the supreme Cassation Court ruled that League party funds should be seized “wherever they are” in relation to to a case of alleged misappropriation.

League founder and former leader Umberto Bossi was among several people convicted in relation to the case at the first-instance trial. On Thursday Italian magistrates union ANM said that an eventual appeal for Mattarella to intervene would be unconstitutional.

Te president’s office has reportedly denied it has been in contact with Salvini aides with a view to setting up a meeting, according to the Italian media.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Man Nabbed for Raping Partner’s Teen Daughter

In Milan

(ANSA) — Milan, July 6 — A 28-year-old Egyptian man was arrested Friday on suspicion of raping his partner’s teen daughter in Milan.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Worse Than EU Average for Poverty, Social Exclusion

Almost 1 in 3 at risk

(ANSA) — Rome, July 6 — Italy is worse than the European Union average for poverty and social exclusion, with almost one in three people at risk compared to a median one in four, ISTAT said Friday.

Italy lags the EU in the burden posed by women’s housework, it said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Majority of Swedes Want to See Calls to Prayer Banned in Their Country

Over 61% of Swedes want to ban calls to prayer in their country, a poll shows. Only 28% opposed the ban, Swedish news outlet Fria Tider reports.

In a Novus survey, for newspaper SVT, the question was asked: “Do you think a call to prayer in Sweden should be banned or do you think not so?”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Major UK Retailer Bans Kitchen Knife Sales in Answer to Violent Crime Wave

Britain’s Poundland discount chain has announced it will stop selling kitchen knives in all of its stores to help tackle soaring youth violence.

The company, whose stores have been a major fixture on UK high streets since 1990, is the first major retailer to go ahead with the anti-knife measure recently recommended by a judge, and other brands are expected to follow suit, according to the Birmingham Mail.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Merkel’s Fading Star

by Srdja Trifkovic

For many years German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been regarded, with reason, as the most powerful woman in the world. Over the past few months Merkel’s authority has diminished precipitously, however, mainly due to her irrational immigration policy. That much became obvious at last weekend’s emergency EU summit on immigration.

The meeting was hastily convened at Merkel’s insistence to develop a joint European strategy to deal with the ongoing migrant onslaught. In reality it was meant to be “Operation Save Mutti”: a means of preventing her government’s collapse by showing that the Union can develop a tougher immigration strategy. Her goal was to ease the pressure from the Christian Social Union (CSU)—her Christian Democratic Party’s (CDU) Bavarian partner—which had threatened to leave her ruling coalition unless she agreed to end her open door policy. CSU leader Horst Seehofer had threatened to resign as Germany’s interior minister unless Merkel agreed to refuse entry to migrants who had applied for asylum elsewhere in the EU, potentially forcing an early election at which the Alternative for Germany (AfD) would be likely to increase its share of the vote…

           — Hat tip: Srdja Trifkovic [Return to headlines]
 

Nantes in Flames: Third Night of Riots in French City After Police Shoot Criminal ‘Aboubakar Fofana’

Since Tuesday it’s now the third night of anarchy in the suburbs of Nantes after Aboubakar Fofana was killed by the police when he tried to escape his arrest.

During the night between Thursday and Friday approximately 50 cars were burnt down and a high school and service station were also targeted.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Opinion: Germany’s Sidelined Social Democrats Left With Bad Options, Again

Left to watch its conservative partners feud over German refugee policy, and nearly bring down the government, the SPD faces a deal it doesn’t want but has no choice but to sign on to, writes DW’s Thomas Latschan.

These days, you can almost feel sorry for Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD). For weeks, party leader Andrea Nahles and her fellow SPD members watched as their coalition partners, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU), feuded over Germany’s approach toward asylum-seekers. The Social Democrats cautioned both sides to be reasonable and warned that the coalition government could collapse.

The SPD even presented its very own five-point plan for processing asylum-seekers. But all their efforts and words of caution were drowned out by the noise from the messy CDU-vs.-CSU fight. And then, when Germany’s government actually looked like it was on the brink of collapse, and many had begun losing faith in the country’s political system altogether, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and rebellious Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) finally reached a last-minute compromise…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Outcry as Japanese Makers of ‘Exceptional’ Wine Told to Quit France

French winemakers and wine lovers are up in arms after a Japanese couple who earned rave reviews for their very first vintage have been threatened with deportation.

More than 42,000 have already signed a petition blasting the “crazy, foolish and shameful decision”, with wine and restaurant critics joining the outcry.

Rie and Hirofumi Shoji’s “exceptional” red wine, Pedres Blanques (White Rocks), made from grenache grapes near Banyuls-sur-Mer in the French Catalan region of Roussillon, in southern France, became an instant hit after their first harvest last year.

It has already made the cellars of Can Roca, often described as the world’s best restaurant, just across the Spanish border in Girona, and top Paris eateries have also been vying to stock up on the natural wine.

The Shojis harvest their grapes by hand, growing them organically and without adding anything to the wine. Their first year of production completely sold out, with 10,000 bottles quickly snapped up and the price surging from 12 euros ($14) to 26 euros.

But immigration officials said the couple could not stay in France because they were not earning enough and their business was “not viable”.

‘Huge success’

Hirofumi Shoji, 38, fell in love with French wine when he began working for the French three-star Michelin chef Alain Ducasse in Japan.

The Shojis met in France after arriving separately in 2011 dreaming of making their own wine. Both studied and worked with some of the country’s leading winemakers in the Burgundy and Bordeaux regions to perfect their skills before marrying and buying a plot of land in 2016.

They sunk 100,000 euros of their savings and took out a 50,000 euro loan to buy their vineyards on difficult terrain where the Pyrenees mountains plunge into the Mediterranean.

But when they tried to change their status on their papers from “employees” to “farmers” officials told them they would have to leave the country because they earned less than 2,000 euros a month.

Their lawyer Jean Codogne’s told AFP that at first he thought it was “an administrative mistake but then three days ago the prefecture confirmed its order.”

He added: “Their wine has been a huge success and 75 percent of the production for this year has already been reserved.”

Japanese perfectionism

Renowned local winemaker Alain Castex is among several who have leapt to the Shojis’ defence, praising Pedres Blanques as “an extraordinary wine”.

“They are really passionate people with very high ethical standards and they have been a magnificent success,” he told French public television.

Jean L’Héritier, the organiser of a wine fair in Perpignan, the capital of the Roussillon region, said it would be a “huge loss for everyone if the Shojis had to leave. The quality of their grapes, and the typically Japanese perfectionism of their winemaking” had impressed their peers, he told the local newspaper, L’Indépendant.

Callers to local radio stations raged at the officials as “moronic”, and Twitter users also described the decision as “criminal”. Green MEP Yannick Jadot called the decision “absurd” and urged his supporters to sign the petition to save the Shojis.

Codogne’s, who has appealed the decision, said the couple were doing well compared to many other winemakers locally.

“The average income in the area (from winemaking) even with subsidies is less than 1,000 euros a month,” he noted, adding that the Shojis hadn’t received any state aid because of their nationality.

Several Japanese winemakers have made a name for themselves in France in recent years, almost all making organic and natural wines, led by Hirotake Ooka, whose Domaine de Grande Colline wines have a cult following in his homeland.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Date created : 2018-07-04

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Paris Attacks Suspect Linked to Horrific Pilot Killing by ISIS

A suspect in the Paris and Brussels terror attacks has been identified by Belgian police as having been among a group of Isis extremists who burned a Jordanian pilot alive in a cage.

Osama Krayem, a Swede of Syrian origin, has been held in Belgium since 2016 and could face war crimes charges over the murder of Maaz al-Kassasbeh, whose grisly death was filmed and put online in an incident that came to symbolise some of the worst excesses of Isis.

Krayem is suspected of playing a key role in the jihadist cell behind the attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people, and Brussels, which left 32 people dead. Both were claimed by Isis.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Salvini Hits Back at Rolling Stone Magazine After Front Page Attack

Italy’s Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, has hit out at Rolling Stone magazine after they attacked him on their front cover.

“We are not with Salvini,” the cover boldly declares on text imposed over a rainbow flag.

“From now on those who are silent are complicit.”

The magazine’s lead article, signed by scores of Italian singers, actors and journalists, calls for Italian’s to “fight together so that Italy remains an open, modern, free and supportive society.”

The Italian firebrand hit back, writing on his Facebook page that he thought it was “sad” that these millionaires “have no contact with real life and do not understand that immigration out of control is a problem for everyone.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Sky’s the Limit! Trump Ready to Offer ‘Zero Tariff’ Trade Deal to Make Brexit Britain Boom

DONALD Trump is ready to offer Theresa May a “zero tariff” trade deal to help get Brexit Britain booming, his ambassador has revealed.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden Turns Right: Patriotic Sweden Democrats by Far the Largest Party

According to the latest Sentio survey, the Sweden Democrats (SD) are well ahead of the other parties in the country, Fria Tider reports.

The SD received 25.6 percent of the vote, which is well ahead of the other parties. However, it is a slight decrease compared to June, when its support was at 26.1 percent.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Campaign for ‘Baby Khan’ Balloon Smashes £10k Target

Following Sadiq Khan’s approval of a balloon mocking President Trump to be flown over Parliament during his visit to the UK, a counter-campaign has surged to over £10,000 out of nowhere for a balloon depicting the London Mayor to go up.

The campaign’s appeal reads: “To have a giant size Sadiq Khan, ‘Baby Khan’ balloon fly over London to demonstrate our unhappiness with him as our Mayor of London.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Arab Press Praises Continuing Arson Attacks From Gaza

The Arab press is lauding the Palestinian fire terror from Gaza that has caused immense damage on Israel’s southern communities and threatens the lives of civilians.

By: The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)

“Fire kites” and “fire balloons” launched from Gaza into Israel in the past few months have caused multiple fires on a daily basis in the region bordering the Gaza Strip.

Since April 2018, hundreds of these kites and balloons, which carry a burning rag or an explosive device, have been launched over the border in the direction of Israeli towns and kibbutzim and have burned over 30,000 acres of cultivated fields, forest and nature reserves in the western Negev.

According to reports, the kite terror is carried out under the direction of Hamas and with this movement’s assistance and encouragement. Hamas’s military wing, the ‘Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, posted on its website a video explaining how to make fire kites as well as reports praising this activity.

Moreover, one of the kite-launching units is called the Bani Al-Zawari unit, after engineer Muhammad Al-Zawari, an Al-Qassam Brigades member who developed drones for Hamas and was killed in Tunisia in 2016. In a July 1 announcement, the unit pledged to increase the launching of fire balloons and stated: “We will not allow this enemy and its usurpers feel safe until our people feel safe in Gaza…”

This new form of terror sparked a debate in the Arab press, with Palestinian and Arab writers praising the Palestinian youths who launch the kites. Ignoring the destructive and potentially lethal character of this activity, articles in the Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian press describe it as an ingenious and effective form of “non-violent protest” and “popular resistance” that has managed to confound Israel despite the latter’s superior technology and military might.

The articles also describe the Israeli communities targeted by the kites as “settlements,” although they are not in the so-called occupied territories.

           — Hat tip: Dora [Return to headlines]
 

IDF Deploys Iron Dome Against on-Going Missile Attacks

The IDF on Thursday deployed several Iron Dome anti-missile batteries along Israel’s border with Gaza, following a military assessment.

The defense ministry reported last week that Palestinian terrorists in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip fired 289 rockets and mortar shells into Israel.

According to Ha’aretz, “this is more than any recent year — including the period in 2014 that preceded Operation Protective Edge that began on July 8 of that year.”

“The IDF is prepared for several scenarios and ready to defend the citizens of the State of Israel and its sovereignty,” the IDF said in a statement.

Since the start of the Hamas-led “March of Return” on March 30, tensions have heightened dramatically.

Saturday will mark 100 days since the beginning of the arson terror launched against Israel’s southern communities from Gaza, where terrorists have been sending incendiary kites and balloons over the border.

To date, approximately 50 dunams of land in the south has been scorched, including farms and nature reserves. The damaged land is roughly equivalent to the size of Greater Tel Aviv.

           — Hat tip: Dora [Return to headlines]
 

Milk Boycott in Saudi Arabia After Morocco

Leading dairy products targeted for price hikes

(ANSAmed) — RABAT, JULY 6 — The protest and boycott against a price hike for milk and dairy products has expanded to Saudi Arabia after Morocco, affecting ‘Almanrai’, a leading milk company in the Middle East.

On July 2 the price of milk and yogurt suddenly increased, according to products, up between 5 and 9%. The price, the company said, “matched an increase in production costs connected to energy, transport, cheese imports and manpower”.

Saudi consumers however did not appreciate the excuses they deemed a “pretext, not at all clear and without details”. The boycott was promoted online under the hashtag #letitrot and in a few days obtained the result of making ‘Almanrai’s stocks fall by a few percentage points.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

A Better Life Prevails Over Political Protests for Russia’s Young People

Young Russians turn to social networks to get their news and tend to have conservative views, according to a study by the Centre for East European and International Studies.

After Russians voted President Vladimir Putin back into office in March, the Berlin-based Centre for East European and International Studies (ZoiS) released a report on young Russians’ outlook on life and politics.

One of its core findings is that Russia’s young people tend to be interested in politics and know about the aims of various political protests, but are unlikely to join rallies themselves, according to the results of a representative online survey in April of 2,000 of Russians between 16 and 35 across the country.

Interest in politics

More than half of all those polled (55 percent) reported taking an interest in domestic and international politics. But only 2 percent were able to name the most important decision-makers in the post-Soviet realm or major leaders in the West. Almost none of those surveyed knew the population of Russia or how many countries belong to the EU.

Faith in President Putin

The report also provided insights on young adults’ participation in Russian elections. It indicated that 61 percent of respondents cast their votes in the country’s last presidential elections and that 67 percent of those surveyed picked Putin.

The ZoiS study showed that Putin and the Russian army are extremely popular among young Russians. The country’s media and the Russian Orthodox Church, however, enjoy little trust among Russian young people.

Well-aware of political protests

The researchers also found that young Russians were well-aware of political protests that occurred during the last year. Some 60 percent stated they knew of rallies expressing opposition to the incumbent government, including Putin, and of protests criticizing corruption. Some 5 percent of those surveyed reported having attended any protests.

That came as no surprise to Felix Krawatzek, who co-authored the report: “We have seen similar figures in other studies. In authoritarian Russia, anyone participating in political protests pays a steep price.”

He added that everyone knows protesters risk being jailed and that Russian security officers are rather merciless. “That deters many,” he said.

The study also revealed that roughly one-third of those surveyed would be willing to join protests and that 17 percent said they personally knew individuals who had done so previously.

“If you think about what this implies for everyday life then it supports the thesis that Russia’s young are interested in politics and have grown up to regard protests as legitimate forms of actions,” Krawatzek said.

Most want quality of life to improve

Political questions, however, are not what young Russians care about most. “Above all, they expect the government to improve the quality of life,” Krawatzek said. More than half of all those surveyed said this was of paramount importance to them. Another 20 percent said it was their second-most important issue overall.

According to Krawatzek, Russian and European youth think alike in this respect.

How young Russians follow the news

Unsurprisingly, 30 percent of those survey reported reading or watching news on social networks. Most said they relied on Russia’s Facebook equivalent Vkontakte. Facebook itself and Twitter, meanwhile, were used by only 1.5 and 1.4 percent, respectively.

A further 23 percent of those surveyed said other internet platforms were important to them. TV remained a major source of information for a third of all respondents, while newspapers played almost no role at all it the lives of Russian youth.

Youth organizations increasingly irrelevant for indoctrination

Ever since Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution, the Russian state has intensified its efforts to win over the country’s young. It established numerous youth organizations, but they have little influence and have largely vanished into obscurity, according to ZoiS researchers.

The Kremlin has adopted a different strategy for winning the loyalty of young people, according to Krawatzek.

“They no longer seek to proactively manipulate the young through youth organizations but have shifted to more subtle methods,” Krawatzek said, adding that schools now play an important role in ideological indoctrination.

Differences and commonalities with their Western peers

The researchers cautioned, however, that Russian young people should not be misunderstood as a homogeneous “unit.” The scholars identified two broad camps among the country’s youth. One side holds conservative views, supports Russia’s regime and values the importance of the Russian “nation,” while the other subscribes to a more liberal view in favor of cosmopolitanism and opportunity equality.

Despite a lack of comparative studies, Krawatzek said that in contrast to youngsters in the West, conservative views are more prevalent among Russia’s youth than liberal ones.

But asked about their views on equality of opportunity and regional self-governance, young Russian respondents said both were highly important to them.

“This thinking is traditionally considered an element of liberal ideology,” Krawatzek said. So in this regard, he concluded, Russian and Western youth are not far apart.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Tokyo Sarin Attack: Aum Shinrikyo Cult Leaders Executed

Seven members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult which carried out a deadly chemical attack on the Tokyo underground in 1995 have been executed, including cult leader Shoko Asahara.

The Sarin attack, Japan’s worst terror incident, killed 13 people and injured thousands more.

The executions took place at a Tokyo detention house on Friday morning.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Chinese Couple, 51 and 56, Are Arrested After for ‘Running a Drug Lab in Their Sydney Home’ — With Detectives Uncovering 150 Litres of Liquid Meth Inside

A Chinese couple from south-west Sydney has been arrested after the police uncovered a clandestine drug lab (pictured) in a Beverly Hills home on Tuesday, July 3.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Muslim Labor MP Claims ‘The West’ Is Oppressing China — and Wants the ‘Rules’ To Change to Let the Dictatorship Have More Power

Shaoquett Moselmane told a function at Parliament House in Sydney China needed to overcome the ‘will of the West’ and change the Western-designed rules of law, trade and finance.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Man Who Called for the Genocide of White South Africans Goes Unpunished

Velaphi Khumalo called for white South Africans to be subjected to what ‘Hitler did to the Jews’. He has been told to issue a public apology.

The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) argued that a public apology from Velaphi Khumalo will suffice as punishment for his racial utterances. Khumalo appeared before the Equality Court for a Facebook comment in which he called for the massacre of white South Africans.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Calls to Abolish ICE Omit That Majority of Immigrants Agency Arrests Are Convicted Criminals

As a growing number of Democrats and their allies call for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), it’s important to remember that the overwhelming majority of illegal immigrants arrested by the agency have criminal convictions.

In 2017 immigrants with criminal convictions accounted for 74% of all arrests made by ICE, according to government data used by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center in a study published earlier this year. Sixteen percent of those arrested by ICE had pending criminal charges and only 11 % had no known criminal convictions or charges, the Pew analysis found.

Nearly 60,000 illegal aliens deported by ICE last year were convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and another 57,438 for possessing or selling dangerous drugs such as opioids. More than 52,000 ICE arrestees were convicted of immigration offenses, including false claim to American citizenship and tens of thousands had pending criminal charges for assault, driving under the influence and a variety of other crimes. Some had pending charges for more violent crimes like sexual assault, kidnapping and homicide.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Clinton WH Official: Illegal Immigrant Asylum Seekers Should ‘Be in the Community, ‘ Not ‘Jailed’

Olivia Golden, a former senior Clinton administration official at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), called for the release of all asylum claimants into American communities during a Thursday interview on C-SPAN.

Golden previously worked as assistant secretary for children and families at HHS.

Golden said, “What’s really important, also, is that [families coming in on the border] not be jailed… It’s really important that families be in the community while they’re waiting for their asylum cases to be heard.”

“The policy threats [of the Trump administration] have been very great [against] low-income people, and working people, and people of color, and immigrants and their families,” said Golden.

“Making sure that you’re not jailing families” should be a public policy priority, said Golden, repeating her call for foreigners with pending asylum claims to be released into the U.S.

Golden now heads the Center for Law and Public Policy (CLASP), which she described as a “non-profit and non-partisan advocacy organization.”

[Comment: Funded by…Soros?]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Germany Planning to Palm Migrants Off on Greece and Italy After Austria Meeting

GERMANY is planning to send migrants back to Italy and Greece if they have previously registered in the countries as part of Horst Seehofer’s demands to toughen Berlin’s external borders.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘God Wants Our Hands to Rescue’ Migrants, Pope Says

Pontiff thanks rescuers in Mediterranean

(ANSA) — Vatican City, July 6 — Pope Francis Friday said “God promises relief and liberation to the oppressed of the world but needs us to make his promise effective”.

He presided over a Mass for migrants in St Peter’s Basilica marking the fifth anniversary of his landmark visit to Lampedusa, the Italian island that has been the primary destination of migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa for years. God, the pontiff said, “needs our eyes to see the needs of brothers and sisters… He needs our hands to rescue.

“He needs our voice to denounce the injustices committed amid the, sometimes complicit, silence of many”.

There is “sterile hypocrisy in those who don’t want to ‘dirty their hands”‘, the pope also said during his homily.

“It is a temptation that is also present in our day, which translates into closure towards those who have a right, like us, to security and a dignified living condition and who build walls, real or imaginary, instead of bridges”.

“Confronted with today’s migration challenges, the only sensible answer is that of solidarity and mercy”.

The migrant issue needs “a response that doesn’t make too many calculations but requires an equal division of responsibility, an honest and sincere evaluation of alternatives and prudent management”.

The pontiff thanked those who carry out rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, including officials who attended the Mass Friday, including from Spain, for “simply deciding to take responsibility” and saving lives.

He expressed solidarity and encouragement to migrants “because I understand well the tragedies from which they are fleeing.

“I ask you to continue to be witnesses of hope in a world that is increasingly concerned with its present, with very little vision for the future and a reluctance to share”, the pontiff told migrants.

He also asked them to “respect the culture and laws of the host country” and to jointly implement “an integration process”.

He concluded the homily with a call to “overcome fears and concerns”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Greece Will Not be Turned Into Migrant Warehouse, Says Minister

Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Friday over their stance towards migration, saying the Greek government will not allow Greece to turn into a “warehouse of souls.”

Kurz has demanded stronger control of the bloc’s external borders and the implementation the EU’s Dublin Regulation on asylum rules, while Orban called on Thursday for undocumented migrants to be returned to Greece, noting that it is the first country of arrival even if all migrants are not registered there.

“As a government, we will not accept turning the country into a warehouse of souls,” he said in an interview with radio station Parapolitika

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Illegal Migrant Population in Paris No-Go Zone Suburbs Hits 400,000

There could be as many as 400,000 illegal immigrants living in Seine-Saint-Denis according to a report from the French parliament.

The report claims that between eight and 20 percent of the population of Paris’s troubled northern suburb may be constituted by illegal immigants and that many live on the streets because of the strain the sheer number has put on social services, Le Figaro reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Illegal Immigrant Suspected in Ohio Teen Rape Captured in Texas

An illegal immigrant suspected of kidnapping and raping two teenage sisters in Ohio has been captured in Texas following a nationwide manhunt, according to police.

David Ramos Contreras, 28, was arrested Thursday by deputy U.S. marshals and police officers in Lubbock, Texas, where he was found inside a home hiding under a bed.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Newspaper Claims ‘Global Elite’ Working to Transform Europe Through Mass Migration

Italian writer Giampaolo Rossi has claimed that elites across Europe are attempting to change the nature of the continent by facilitating the mass migration of millions from Africa to Europe.

Mr Rossi cited a recent interview with Africa expert Stephen Smith who said that “within two generations, at least 100 million young Africans will be ready to come to Europe”, noting that 40 percent of Africans today are under the age of 15.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Judge Upholds Key Parts of California Sanctuary Policies

A district court judge on Thursday rejected the Justice Department’s request to block two California laws that protect undocumented immigrants, handing a blow to the Trump administration as fierce debate over immigration policy continues to escalate.

U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez wrote in his opinion that SB 54 (known as the sanctuary state law) and AB 103, which requires transparency in the monitoring of detention facilities, as well as the employee-notice provision of AB 450 (the Immigrant Worker Protection Act) are “permissible exercises of California’s sovereign power.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Liberals Protest Arrest of Illegals Running Child Sex Trafficking Operation From Their Home

Q: What’s worse than a group of illegal aliens who cross over into the United States and exploit young children in a sex-trafficking operation?

A: American citizens who defend them.

A group of lawless liberal lunatics protested outside an Oakland, CA home as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a search warrant for suspected child sex traffickers.

“There is a growing group of people who are upset about what they’ve been seeing,” said local CBS reporter Neda Iranpour. “There’s a sign saying ‘we love our neighbors.’ They also wrote on the ground with chalk saying [Oakland Police] is a disgrace, thinking that this was an immigration investigation because Homeland Security was out here.” — Big League Politics

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Migrants Reaching Spain by Sea Up 120 Percent

(AP) — The Spanish government reports that the number of migrants reaching the country by sea is up more than 120 percent this year as the so-called Western Mediterranean route gained recognition as an alternative way to Europe.

Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said it pulled 373 migrants from seven boats attempting to cross the Mediterranean on Friday.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Orban Tells Merkel: 5,000 Migrants Would Enter Germany Every Day if Hungary Didn’t Defend the Border

Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, has clashed with Angela Merkel over immigration policy, following a meeting between the pair in Berlin.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Merkel said: “We do protect our outer borders, but not with the goal of just walling ourselves off and talking about a kind of fortress.”

The Hungarian firebrand wasn’t in the mood for any of her virtue-signaling.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Pope to Immigrants: The Good Samaritan Did Not Ask for ‘Documents’

At his “Mass for Migrants” in the Vatican Friday, Pope Francis called for an international response of “solidarity and mercy” to the ongoing immigration crisis.

Marking the fifth anniversary of his visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa to meet with migrants in 2013, the pope addressed both migrants and rescuers in his homily at the Mass, comparing the latter to modern-day Good Samaritans…

The pontiff also had strong words for those who fail to open their doors to migrants, comparing them to the oppressed poor of the Old Testament who were “trampled on.”

[Comment: Globalist shill. Same old communist tactic of guilt tripping to push mass migration. Instead, western nations should build a wall like the Vatican wall.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘Schengen is Dead’ Blasts French Eurosceptic in Fierce Attack on Macron

FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron is “clinging on to a Schengen system that is already dead,” French conservative Nicolas Dupont-Aignan said on Thursday, referring to the European Union’s controversial system of open borders. The populist Italian government’s decision to turn away humanitarian rescue ships and calls for greater solidarity have exposed deep divisions among EU states on migration.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

South Korea: Syrian Man Arrested for Promoting ISIS Terrorism

By Jung Min-ho

A Syrian man has been arrested after allegedly promoting the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group and encouraging other foreign workers to be part of it, police said Friday.

According to the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency, the man, 33, whose identity is being withheld, was arrested for allegedly violating the anti-terrorism law, which bans activities that can endanger national security and citizens’ safety.

After receiving reports, investigators apprehended him at his residence in Pyeongtaek on June 18. Police said they found explosive material in his car and IS promotion video clips on his computer.

It unclear whether he is a member of the IS or just a follower.

After entering Korea in 2007, he applied for legal refugee status, which was later rejected. Instead, he received a residency permit for humanitarian reasons, which has to be renewed every year.

Over the past 10 year, he worked at various places across Gyeonggi Province.

[Comment: Wherever these people go, they take their poison. Let the world know how this man said “thank you” to Korea after they took him in for humanitarian reasons.]

           — Hat tip: Samuel [Return to headlines]
 

The Liberal Stampede to ‘Abolish ICE’

“What is it in the DNA of the left that it is always ready to enlist in any new war on cops?”

“No Borders! No Nations! No Deportations!” “Abolish ICE!”

Before last week, these were the mindless slogans of an infantile left, seen on signs at rallies to abolish ICE, the agency that arrests and deports criminal aliens who have no right to be in our country.

By last week, however, “Abolish ICE!” was no longer the exclusive slogan of the unhinged left. National Democrats were signing on…

President Donald Trump describes this latest liberal campaign as social and political insanity: “You get rid of ICE you’re going to have a country that you’re going to be afraid to walk out of your house.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

James Woods Suggests Agent Dropped Him Over Politics

(Associated Press) James Woods, one of Hollywood’s most outspoken conservatives, says his agent dropped him as a client on the Fourth of July, citing patriotism.

Woods on Thursday shared on Twitter an email from his agent, Ken Kaplan. In the excerpted email, dated Wednesday, Kaplan said he was “feeling patriotic” and no longer wanted to represent Woods.

“It’s the 4th of July and I’m feeling patriotic,” wrote Kaplan in the posted email. “I don’t want to represent you anymore. I mean I could go on a rant but you know what I’d say.”

[Comment: Agent likely meant to say “It’s the 4th of July and I’m a communist”.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Now Facebook Claims Gospel Video is ‘Political’

Facebook has in recent months been trying to find some way to identify the messages it dislikes, so that they can be restricted.

Not without some spectacular failures, such as when it removed a post recently that consisted almost entirely of text from the Declaration of Independence.

Now it’s targeted a gospel video.

According to a report at WRAL, it was part of Facebook’s “recent crackdown on advertising it considers political.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Meaning of Good and Evil in Perilous Times

In psychological terms, the characteristics of high level narcissists and sociopaths match most closely with our historic concept of evil. And, in my view, most great evils done in history are in fact done by people with multiple narcissistic traits. As far as global elitists are concerned, they represent a rather insidious threat, because they are narcissistic sociopaths that have organized into a predatory gang, so all the traits consistent with the behavior of your average serial killer are now magnified a thousandfold by their access to unlimited resources.

How do we identify these people? Well, this is a difficult prospect at times because narcissistic sociopaths commonly hide in plain sight. Some people live with them for years before realizing exactly what they are. They also like to insert themselves into nonprofit organizations that claim to do good for the community as a cover for their more insidious motives.

Some traits and behaviors that are common are a lack of normal emotional response to traumatic events or joyous events, or they will mimic the responses of others to blend in but they come off as “forced” or “fake.” They have no concept of empathy; it does not exist for them.

They seek out centers of power and are drawn to positions of authority. They always seem to be demanding the efforts of others while rarely offering their own help. They make terrible leaders, always attempting to lead from a place of safety while letting their conscripts take the risks. Leading by example is a foreign concept to them.

They will lie repetitively about their accomplishments and their accolades. They will misrepresent their professional achievements in order to gain people’s trust. Ask them to prove through actions that they can do all the things they claim they can do, and they will try to avoid the test or respond indignantly and angrily.

They will gaslight their ideological enemies or people they are trying to control. They will accuse others of being “narcissists” or “sociopaths” or fascists or any moniker that will push the buttons of their target. Whatever evils they are guilty of, they will try to flip and lay at the feet of their enemies.

They always seem to have “minions” to do their dirty work for them and attack those that oppose them. People that have dealt with narcissistic sociopaths in their personal lives sometimes refer to these minions as “flying monkeys,” referencing the flying monkeys enslaved by the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. Flying monkeys are essentially useful idiots that the narcissist employs through fraud and sometimes through pay. Whenever the narcissist is under threat of being exposed, they unleash their flying monkeys onto the streets or onto the internet to undermine truth tellers.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

46 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 7/6/2018

  1. France is in EU to protect its inefficient farming methods. No wonder they want to deport the Japanese. EU has gone too far by pandering to French failed farming methods. Now Europe as a whole cannot afford it.

    • “deport the Japanese”

      What’s that about please? They’re a fine fine people.

    • Liberalism lasts until other people’s money runs out, then full-blown Marxists move in. The dialectic goes on as long as there is Satan.

    • I get your point. The EU Common Agricultural Policy meant that huge subsidies were paid to French farmers to keep them in business. Often these might be small farms milking a dozen cows by hand. In non subsidized economies such operations would go broke. But the French also have this mania with trying to stop anyone else from producing a product they traditionally developed. So if another country calls a sparkling wine ‘Champagne” or a cheese with a French name, they litigate.
      In this case it looks like a case of national pride ruffled as some Japanese were doing as good a job (or better) at wine making than the French locals.

    • France is the main purveyor of vegetables in the EU thanks to a highly industrialized and computerized agricultural sector. I’ ve been there, believe me. Second to Italy or Spain in wine production( not to mention quality). What about their cheeses? How is that inefficient.Enlighten me.

  2. “At a Mass for migrants in St Peter’s Basilica today, Pope Francis said that God wants to use our hands to rescue migrants.”

    He’s one of the traitor class too. I’m not aware of any Pope being held accountable however….

    There’s always a first.

      • Yes, they want to get rid of European peoples.
        To terminate our Western cultures and national identities, because they are in the way of their globalist agenda.
        A major step in this direction is the so called “Union for the Mediterranean”.
        This union already exists and gets silently but steadily intensified and deepened every year.
        Those Non-European countries of course all belong to the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) and except for Turkey also to the Arab League.
        One has to look at the Muslim migrants influx also under this aspect.

        A political union or barbaric superstate in search for a new population, because the old ones just didn`t fit in…
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_for_the_Mediterranean

      • That page is not critical of the current Pope, it’s a hatefest against Jews, as the comments show, and in their view the Catholic Church is merely a tool in the hand of the abysmally evil Jews (the real power in this world), Tommy Robinson is a zionist and little prostitute, etc.etc.

        Pretty sick if you ask me.

        • I didn`t find any hatefest against Jews on their website. The only recent article which is critical addresses the double standard of some (!) Jews who attack Western nations for their rigid immigration policy, while defending their own agenda of keeping Israel predominantly Jewish.
          Which is perfectly fine in my opinion, but the same right then goes for any other culture and nation.

          But maybe I`m wrong and you refer to something else on their site.

          • Again, read the page, not only the brief snippet at the top that hardly merits being called an article. The bulk of the page is the comments. Kill the Jews, kill the Jews, Tommy Robinson is a Zionist prostitute, kill the Jews, kill the Jews, and you don’t think it’s a hatefest?

          • Israel has a much higher percentage of Muslims than any other civilized country( about 20%).
            Though Palestinians, they have no desire to join their brethren in Gaza or elsewhere.That would mean loss of job,income,security,welfare, medical care and education.
            This goes to show that they are not all brainless. And the IDF knows how to keep them at bay…..if necessairy.

        • @Hopping Mad
          Please show me the passage were it says “kill the Jews, kill the Jews”…
          Thank you!

      • I got the message well, but this source is more than obscure. An austrian bishop sent to Astana / Khasachstan? Did he deserve a special treat by the Vatican? This is like Juneau/Alaska for a failed FBI officer. The journalist Bozi is well renowned, but where,please? Schneider seems to have a beef with Bergoglio, and maybe rightly.

  3. Still waiting for the vatican to take a few thousand behind its walls or is it that the [Pope] is nothing more than a giant virtue signaler.

    • You know, he did take a few, I think 6 migrants, to the Vatican a few years ago. Just the other day I was wondering if they were still there and what they were doing.

  4. “At a Mass for migrants in St Peter’s Basilica today, Pope Francis said that God wants to use our hands to rescue migrants. The pontiff also said that the Good Samaritan did not ask for documents when he was helping a victim.”

    One non-Papal version is that the Jew whom the Samaritan helped had faked his injuries and thrown away his papyrus ID before being found by the side of the road and then being taken to Samaria as “victim.”

    Whatever, all sources agree that when he had recovered from his hurts thanks to the Good Samaritan, he decided to stay in the Samaritan’s house and wait for Samaritan citizenship for a few years while eating his way through the Samarian reserve granary.

    During this time he knifed any Samaritan who looked sideways at him and many that didn’t too, and ogled and molested Samaritan women. He imbibed much good Samaritan wine.

    As the Powers that Were in Samaria had their own agenda, he was not apprehended for any of his crimes; instead, they said quite openly that all his relatives in Judea were welcome to move to Samaria.

    The Bible tells us that Jews had a contemptuous attitude to Samaria; this might explain why the more Judeans who moved to Samaria, the more the Samarians regretted the initial action of the Good Samaritan.

  5. “The pontiff [Frank] also said that the Good Samaritan did not ask for documents when he was helping a victim.”

    Now the facts. “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” Luke 10,25.

    Frank is so confused. The smugglers and their boat people are the THIEVES; they are NOT the “certain man from Jerusalem.” These thieves intentionally put themselves at risk on the open sea with the aim of getting to Europe so that they can live off those inhabitants, at the expense of those inhabitants, meanwhile assaulting the females and befouling the inhabitants’ lands.

    The Good Samaritan here are the people of Europe. Not the thieves coming to Europe to steal from the people of Europe. But Frank wants us to help the thieves so that these thieves can continue to steal. Yikes.

    • Even more important in that parable is that the Good Samaritan left the victim with an inn-keeper and went on his way. He did not invite the man into his homeland.

      • Exactly correct. As I keep saying, the tale of the Good Samaritan is not a suicide pact!

        The Samaritan did not say, “Please stay in my house, eat all my food, and help yourself to my wife and daughter!”

  6. Watch this video of real refugees singing to Francis. He appears to be unable or unwilling to even look at them.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d-Nc0N9jT8

    They are Assyrian Christians who have found refuge in Georgia. Their monastery, led by father Seraphim who sings here, is now the only place in the world holding services in Aramaic… the language of Jesus Christ, and of the Assyrian church, one of the oldest Christian churches in the world.

    Assyrian Christians are rapidly disappearing – IS’ genocide upon them continues.

    Father Seraphim dedicates his singing to his people and his God.
    ‘All my singing is a prayer to God,’ he says. ‘It is how I pray. And our song is our weeping for our people’s suffering.’

    You can hear their sorrow in their music. The plea for help. A stone would weep at the song of this little Assyrian girl, many of whose compatriots are now the sex slaves of IS.

    As opposed to Francis whose eyes are downcast, father Serafim looks to the heavens. The contrast draws the attention. I do not see Francis as expressing piety, he looks sooner uncomfortable with the situation. As he has reason to be. He knows that he has let these people down.

    I consider Benedict the real pope, still the pope of the Catholic Church.

  7. ISIS Sympathizer Smacked by Long Arm of the Law in 20-Year Sentence … The Department of Justice sentenced a Virginia man to 20 years in prison for blocking a counterterrorism investigation, according to the DOJ on Friday

    How can the DOJ “sentence” someone to prison? I thought juries and judges handed down sentences. And for 20 years? You don’t have to support the defendant’s action to think that’s pretty draconian.

  8. The Good Samaritan did not need to ask for documents because in his days no muslims existed and most importantly the story happened among fellow citizen. Nobody is criticising help amongst members of the same city or country, even among anyone truly in need. What people with common sense criticise is helping wolves get into the pasture.

    • Actually Samaritians still exist today.
      They are a small religious minority in Israel, only growing somewhat again because of intermarriage with Jews (Samaritians and Jews have the same religious and ethnic roots, but view each other as apostates basically since antiquity. Modern Judaism dates back to the Babylonian Talmud, while Samaritians kept early Jewish traditions alive because they never went into the Babylonian exile – or so it is believed).

      Under Muslim rule many converted to Islam, just like it happened with the followers of other faiths.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritans

  9. After receiving reports, investigators apprehended [a Syrian man] at his residence in Pyeongtaek [South Korea]on June 18. Police said they found explosive material in his car and IS promotion video clips on his computer. [He had] **received a residency permit for humanitarian reasons**, which has to be renewed every year.

    “Thank you” FOR A TRUE FOLLOWER of Islam is, then, “kill them”. Who knew it? Korea needs to find out very fast. Warm, generous, hard-working and very decent people who don’t deserve what’s coming to them unless they inform themselves very soon.

  10. Virtue signaling pope.
    Catholics are not the greatest when it comes to the Bible.
    Did the Samaritan take the victim home, support him for the rest of his life, hand over his daughter to him?
    Of course the pope won’t look at the context, first a priest walks by and does nothing, then a Levite walks by and does nothing. The despised Samaritan helps.
    He does what is needed, treats the wounds and sees to treatment. He does not take over the victim’s life. If the pope wants to use that parable, (which he should not, he would be the priest in the parable, he is not taking anyone in, he just wants us to take them home) he would donate his salary to have effective camps established in Syria and feed and care for the migrants in their own country.

  11. While on vacation, I once again read the book Karel Chapek “The War with the Newts”, which I first read as a teenager.
    Although Chapek wrote it about totalitarian regimes, but it is much better reflects the modern problems associated with Islam.
    Just like in the book, the moment when the situation could be changed, already missed. It remains only to pit Muslims against each other.

    • Thanks for mentioning dystopian literature again.
      Most so called dystopies refer to past experiences( Orwell, Huxley). Indeed there are a few that really foresee future evolutions.HG Wells’ Eloy people, A.Burgess’ 1985, a reckoning of Orwell, and even Jules Verne’s Paris in the year 1960, written in 1860, are much closer to what happens these days than the above mentioned prophets. I would be thankful to have feedback to my hints.

  12. antipope francis misquoting the holy scriptures and intentionally misunderstanding the bible, to deliver the modernist free masonry church message. It is nothing new since the vatican council II the church has become protestant against god. Christ never came to save human bodies, and he said that there is no escape from this life, all end into death. What these satanic and humanist NGOs are doing is saving the humans and pervert their souls to eternal damnation into hell. The only scope of the church for 2 thousand years has been to save the soul, because there is no salvation in this life, but only in next is possible. The free masonry ecumenical church instead is asking for salvation of the humans in this life while letting them rotten in hell to eternal damnation in the next.

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